LA Clippers: Exploring LA’s offensive explosion in Game 5 vs. Dallas

The LA Clippers finally found a way to work less for more 

On its face, the notion that the LA Clippers offense was operating at anything less than full power through the first four games of the NBA playoffs, seemed a stretch at best. Averaging nearly 124 points per game – good for second among the 16 teams playing in the postseason -the Clippers shot 47 percent from the field and averaged the third most free-throw attempts; surpassing even the oversized Los Angeles Lakers.

And yet, despite the gaudy numbers there remained a certain lack of fluidity amongst the Clippers’ attack, that until Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks, didn’t allow the eye-test to quite match up with the data.

Dealing with significant injury concerns throughout the regular season, the dominant storyline for LA entering bubble play concerned the team being able to create a sense of rhythm for its top players as they learned to share the court. Having played a scant 400 possessions together – according to Cleaning the Glass – lineups featuring Kawhi Leonard, Lou Williams, and Paul George often delved into a back-and-forth of “your turn, my turn” during the first four games of the playoffs.

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While LA was more often than not, been able to claw its way to buckets, it spoke more to the overwhelming talent on the floor, than the workings of an offensive system.

Playing against the Mavericks, the Clippers doubled the rate at which they operated in isolation, clearing out the strong-side and allowing one of Leonard, Williams, or George to operate. While the exception of PG – whose troubles before the tie-breaking game we’ll get to later – the Clippers generally found production in these sets: averaging about 0.7 points per possession – says Synergy Sports – a not terrible number, though nothing one would want to hang their hat on.

The concern, however, was the lack of secondary, weak-side action when these iso’s did occur. Rather than attempt to squeeze as much juice out of every possession by implementing hard-cuts, or off-ball screens to generate additional opportunities should the strong-side action sputter, the Clips were generally content to stand in place, and watch one of their offensive stars work.

In a continuation of this trend, LA also saw a substantial increase in the percentage of field goals scored without an assist. Rising 13 points from the regular season, to encompass over 55 percent of their scoring possessions, this lack of ball movement was not only the result of the heavy isolation play but also from the Clippers’ preference for attacking early in the shot-clock with high pick-and-rolls.

Looking to take advantage of the lack of lateral speed among the Maverick defenders’ – with the exception of Dorian Finney-Smith – the sets were generally the bread-and-butter of second seed’s offense; with Williams blowing by the Mavs to get to the rim, and Leonard using the space to get to the elbow, and operate. Though they generated about a point per possession, with the ball-handler scoring 22 percent of the time, their repeated use of the sets, paired with their rise in ISO’s, meant LA witnessed almost 40 percent of their possessions end with only a single-player having touched the rock.

And yet, none of this is to suggest that the Clippers’ offense was bad in any way. While part of their production certainly was helped by the inconsistencies of the Dallas defense, LA does boast several players capable of scoring at high rates in the sets described above. While many observers look at isolation plays, and a dearth of passing as an inefficient relic of the early aughts, sometimes winning basketball games really is as simple as having your best guys go and get buckets, and the Clippers’ points per game is a testament to that.

The problem, however, was that the offense was clearly operating at below an optimal level. Attempting to navigate the gauntlet that is the Western Conference, let alone survive the first-round, it quickly became clear that LA would need to start firing on all cylinders and hit their peak. After Game 5, it appeared they did just that.

Rather than quickly attack off a pick, the Clippers, in Game 5, often spun away from the waiting screen, reversing the ball along the perimeter in an attempt to not only have more players touch the ball but stretch the Mavericks’ defense to widen lanes. While the action didn’t drastically change the type of shots the Clips looked to take, the process by which they were created did.

Still getting to the elbow, Leonard multiple times sprinted off-ball, receiving the entry-pass at his favorite position, without having had to fight off the dribble to get there.

Here too, the action was slightly tweaked, with the Mavs blitzing Leonard with a double, and the former Finals-MVP doing a superb job in anticipating the trap and getting the ball out to the perimeter, where Landry Shamat and Marcus Morris took their pick between draining 3’s or blowing by an off-balance defense. Long-seen as one of the few weak spots in his ever-improving game, Leonard’s ability to provide good looks for his teammates after drawing attention to himself had been one of the season’s most notable developments, even as the start of the playoffs had been a return to the way Kawhi had once preferred to play. In doing so, the Clippers not only generated more offense – unbelievably – but did so with far less work.

No more was this true than with Paul George. Coming under heavy criticism following his nightmare Game 4, George struggled not merely as a result of an inventive Dallas strategy, but because he failed to score in opportunities, he has long excelled in. Playing out of the P&R 10 times, isolation five, and spotting up twice – all according to Synergy – the former All-NBA forward struggled to gain separation despite being singled covered, going zero for five on uncontested shots in Game 4. Getting PG going seemed to be one of the catalysts for improving the offensive efficiency by the Clippers.

Increasing the number of times, he pushed in transition, George was the beneficiary of not only easier looks but concerted attempts by Doc Rivers to get him rhythm. Starting the third quarter with the ball out of bounds, Leonard received the inbound pass, while LA once again cleared out the strong side, setting up for their standard isolation. This time, however, the Clips featured a hard-backdoor cut by a waiting PG, taking the Mavericks by surprise, as he sprinted towards the basket from above the perimeter, ultimately receiving the lob end before the defense could rotate.

Not only did George excel as a pressure release from an aggressive Dallas defense, but the additional ball-movement seemed to get him going, shooting 4-8 from behind the arc.

While Game 5 does not answer all the questions remaining about the Clippers’ ability to score efficiently with their biggest contributors sharing the floor, it does at the very least, demonstrate the organization’s willingness to tamper with their formula when necessary.

Though their results on the offensive end were certainly not bad, the process by which they generated points to start the playoffs seemed unsustainable, should they hope to win a title. After Game 5, that no longer appears to be the case.