Why James Harden, evolved LA Clippers offense are destined for an NBA Finals run

The LA Clippers are elite in isolation, pick-and-rolls, and spot-ups

While the LA Clippers’ basic stats are not eye-popping, their offensive ability is extremely apparent when you look at how they are performing in different play types.

For example, the Clippers have one of the best isolation offenses in the league. They run isolations a league-best 12.4 percent of the time and average 1.07 points per play, the second-best mark in the league behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. This makes sense because Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden are awesome isolation players, and having so many players who can create efficient offense in one-on-one situations will lead to the team being extremely efficient in these situations.

The Clippers are also very efficient in pick-and-rolls. They rank top 10 in points per play from their pick-and-roll ball handlers and pick-and-roll roll men. Pick-and-rolls are an extremely efficient source of offense so the fact that the Clippers are effective with this play type further explains why their offense is productive.

The last play type that is worth mentioning here is spot-ups. Earlier we discussed how the Clippers are great at shooting 3's and this shows up in their efficiency on spot-ups. Since the Clippers run a lot of isolations, they don’t utilize spot-ups as much as a lot of other teams, but they are still one of the best teams in the league in these situations. The Clippers are averaging 1.14 points per play on spot-ups, the second-best mark in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics.