We’re not going to say the entire NBA world was calling the Los Angeles Clippers a bust in November, but that sure seemed to the consensus of the louder voices.
Well, times have changed. Thanks to losses by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, the Clippers have moved into first place in the Western Conference with a record of 34-15.
LA has won nine of its last 10 and most recently beat the Atlanta Hawks in a 149-144 shootout.
Obviously, the Clippers aren’t guaranteed to stay there and are still months away from the playoffs where the team has obviously seen no significant success. They will remain the Clippers until they do something the Clippers have never done.
And yet, their changes since Nov. 14 have been wild.
On that date, the team lost its sixth straight game and its fifth straight since going all-in on James Harden. That defeat was particularly brutal, a close one to a Denver Nuggets team missing Jamal Murray to effectively eliminate them from the NBA in-season tournament. Paul George was so incensed he made comments about the refs that cost him $35,000.
It was at that point a few changes were made:
Perhaps the most significant move was to simply let Harden settle into an offense alongside George and Kawhi Leonard, who once again looks like one of the most players in the NBA. Since returning from a hip injury on Jan. 1, Leonard is averaging 24.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting a wildly efficient .550/.506/.922.
It was easy to make fun of Harden during the losing streak. It made for a fun narrative, that of the washed-up bridge-burner who managed to sink a would-be NBA power. The reality is he was a player (a system?) who joined the team days before his debut with no training camp or preseason and was suddenly expected to have the entire offense run through him.
After some growing pains, the Clippers look, well, grown. Again, we will see if the team works as well when the pressure is on and opponents get repeated looks at them in the NBA playoffs, but they’ve managed to put themselves in a position that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
