Los Angeles Clippers — Rim Protection
The Los Angeles Clippers are a team with very few weaknesses. There is an argument to be made that at full strength, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George pose just as much of a threat as a duo as LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
On top of that, the Clippers just simply have a lot more depth. Lou Williams, and Montrezl Harrell off the bench just begins the depth they contain. This team is really good, it’s just been a rarity to see them all on the court at the same time this season.
This Clippers team can score, and defend at a high level. The one thing they seem to lack is rim protection. A lot of people don’t believe this could be a huge problem, since their perimeter defense is so good. As much as I believe there is truth to that statement, I’ve always been of the belief that a championship team requires a good defensive center, despite the recent obsession and success with small-ball.
If you look at the champions of the recent past, Marc Gasol, Draymond Green, and Tristan Thompson are all very strong defensive bigs. In the deep parts of the playoffs, teams can learn to exploit weakness’, and the weakness in the Clippers’ roster is their lack of rim protection.
Harrell is a good athlete, and Zubac is decent positionally, but neither of them pose a big threat to elite level drivers. On top of that, the Clippers’ rebounding could suffer as well. Leonard and George are both strong wing rebounders, but guys like Anthony Davis, or Nikola Jokic could find themselves feasting on the boards.
If the Clippers can manage to get rim protection, and productive rebounding out of their big men, then they can go far. They already hold more than enough talent to take home the Larry O’Brien, but a dominant performance from their big men could help them win the NBA Finals in pure dominance.
