NBA in Threes: Early observations from opening week

Los Angeles Clippers

To say the Clippers got off to a slow start in this game would be a pretty big understatement. I was a combination of surprised, and hopeful to hear that Patrick Patterson would be starting for the Clippers, but his production was down. He played only 17.5 minutes and put up three shots from long range. He missed two of them. I guess this kind of sums it up even as a joke:

Patterson was a personal favorite of mine when the played for the Raptors, and now I mostly just wonder, what the heck happened to that guy? I hope he can find his game again before it’s simply too late.

Even with the slow start, the Clippers looked solid defensively. The fact that they trailed so far behind for most of the first quarter wasn’t because they were giving up points on blown coverages.

The walking bucket, Lou Williams did his thing and reminded me early that he’s not just a shooter as he drove the lane for a scoop shot early in the first. Initially, it seemed like Sweet Lou had created himself an and-1 situation. But on review triggered by Lakers’ coach Frank Vogel, it was found that Williams had not gathered at the time of the foul.  On the night, Williams went 8-14 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line for 21 points.

The Clippers bench outscored the Lakers bench 60-19. The Clippers bench is beyond a doubt the reason they won this game. Without that production off the bench, Kawhi’s 30 points simply would not have been enough to carry the day.

Yes, some of them played starting minutes. But the didn’t start the game which means for the purposes of this conversation they were the bench.

Montrezl Harrell going 3-8 from the free-throw line has to be a bit of a concern too since all but one of his field-goal attempts came from within seven feet of the basket. He scored 17 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. He’s the kind of guy you want to have on the floor. But there are going to be times when games are decided by small margins and five made or missed free throws could easily be the difference in those games.

The Clippers were my pick to win the Battle of Los Angeles all summer long and game one against the Lakers solidifies that choice for me. And that’s before even discussing the fact that Paul George didn’t play. Paul George who averaged 28 points a game last season.

That said, getting only 22 points out of the rest of the starting lineup is not going to be a recipe for winning against many teams in the NBA, even after Paul George returns to the lineup. Clippers coach Doc Rivers is going to have to make some adjustments there.

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