The Clippers Are Almost Back

The Clippers have officially reached the halfway point of the season, and they’re in a good spot.

While the team isn’t playing the best basketball of the season, they’re on the right track. The Clippers were an absolute monster in the month of November, going 11-3; it was peak Clamp City. Unfortunately, the month of December was no where near as kind, as LA went 6-9. Despite all of this, the Clippers are currently in a healthy spot, winning 7 out of their last 11 games.

The team may have lost to Denver in an ugly fashion last night, but the Clippers won 3 out of the last 4 games prior to it. You also have to give Denver credit — they’re the first seed for a reason. The Nuggets are as deep as the Clippers, but possess a superstar in Jokic.

With all of this in mind, both the players and coaches can sense the ship turning in the right direction.

“We’re getting back to that [November play],” Doc Rivers said. “You can see it. I told the team we’re turning a corner again. You can feel it coming back.”

That sense of optimism resonates with Tobias Harris as well.

“I think we’re pretty close to getting back there,” Harris said. “Every night presents a new opportunity for us, a new opponent. So I think we’re just really evaluating how other teams are playing us, and what we have to do on a consistent basis to get back to that point.”

In the last 10 games, the Clippers went 6-4. The offense has been clicking within this time period: 3rd in PPG, 5th in FG%, 1st in 3P%, and 7th in FT%. The part that still needs work is the clamping part of Clamp City. The Clippers have increased their hustle, jumping to 12th in rebounding (46.1), but the defense is still bad. In the last 10 games the Clippers are ranked 25th defensively, allowing opponents to score 114.3 PPG. Interestingly enough, the only teams that are worse defensively in that stretch are the: Kings, Warriors, Knicks, Suns, and Cavs.

As always, there’s no need to panic yet Clipper Nation. The Clips aren’t playing great, but they’re doing well enough, and are on the path to getting better.