There is no question that the Clippers have an excellent starting 5, an offensive juggernaut that so many teams have a difficult time to stop, including the former defending champions the SA Spurs as seen in the first round of this years playoffs. However, for much of the season the Clippers' critics have called out the bench unit as being the weak point on the team. The 'Achilles heal' that holds them back from true title contention, that makes them pretenders instead of contenders.
However, the Clips have firmly cemented themselves as top championship favourites in this years playoffs and a big reason why is due to the stellar play of the bench.
Jamal Crawford, the two time 6th man of the year heard the noise the critics were making and himself, like the rest of the bench had to tune it our to focus.
“It’s been great, it really has,” Crawford said. “The bench has taken a lot of criticism all year from everybody – in town, out of town, whatever. We’re coming together at the right time, and I think it maybe caught some people off guard.”
The Clippers bench has outscored the Houston bench in 3 of the 4 games in the current series with Jamal Crawford being his usual super-sub self and Austin Rivers having an game 4 explosion to go along with his consistent playoff performances he's had all throughout the postseason. Guys like Spencer Hawes and Lester Hudson have also given the Clips valuable minutes off the bench.
It’s been a breakout series for Rivers, who’s averaging 16 points per game while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point range, taking some of the scoring burden off Crawford for the second unit. All of those numbers are up for Rivers, who averaged seven points per game on 40.9 percent shooting from the floor and 29.8 percent shooting from 3-point range during the season.
“Our bench has been great, especially during this series,” said J.J. Redick. “Going back to Game 1, Austin filled in well when Chris was sidelined. Austin was great (Friday) and continued to play well (Sunday). Jamal was great. Big Baby (Glen Davis) provides us with a lot of energy. Our bench has been so good for us.”
It's a known fact Spencer Hawes struggled with the Clips all season after a fantastic one in Philadelphia but he accepted his reduced minutes in the playoffs and stayed ready for when his number was called, in Game 4 against Houston Spencer had his best quarter as a Clipper and has generally been good throughout the series. Consequently, his minutes are starting to increase.
“If we have a guy go down and we want to make a run, especially in the playoffs, we usually have guys step up and perform,” Hawes said. “In this case, we wanted everybody to step up because we knew Chris Paul was a little banged up. We just wanted to take some pressure off Chris the past few games.”
“Austin has been huge, but not just Austin,” said Blake Griffin. “Obviously always Jamal – Jamal always brings a punch for us, Spencer has played great minutes, Big Baby has played huge minutes in this series and the Spurs series. I know he’s a little banged up, but when he’s out there he changes the game with his energy and his presence.
“It’s great to see guys kind of getting outside of themselves and just saying, ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes.’ It’s really shown. Even games like, even if the bench doesn't come in and outscore a team 2-1, it’s their presence and their spirit on defence.”
Glen Davis has provided the Clips with his standout energy and effort all season. Although his scoring touch comes and goes he always goes a little bit further, always makes the extra effort plays and he's shown his value to the Clips throughout the postseason.
Due to the benches improvement the huge load has been taken off Jamal and this can be seen with his improving efficiency as he doesn't have to be as much of a gunner and volume scorer although he still strikes fear into defenders with his deadly crossover.
“For pretty much the whole year, we’ve been criticized for having one of the worst benches,” Crawford said. “But this is the most important part of the year and everybody has been stepping up.”
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