NBA

Los Angeles Clippers Stat Brief: Clippers vs. Kings/Sixers

Yulian Fedulov Mar 19th, 2013
The Clippers just seem to struggle against other projected playoff teams. Time to panic for Lob City?

Lob City Highlight of the Night

According to the Sports Tsar he has the 27th worst contract in the NBA, but as a fan I will gladly pay DeAndre Jordan $11 mil a year to see dunks like this.

Looking Back

On one hand, the Clippers are 7-3 in their last 10 games and 2-1 in their last three. On the other hand, those 3 losses were all against top five teams in the Western Conference, and their last five losses are all against teams that are expected to make deep playoff runs. So while the Clippers are running non-playoff teams out of the building, they are having the same done to them by the good teams. In addition, when you consider Miami looking like a finely tuned machine late in the season with the second-longest winning streak ever, the Clippers should be worried that they can’t beat any of the top teams.

Speaking of streaks, remember that impressive undefeated month by the Clippers back in December? Well since then, they are just 21-15 and 9-9 against other projected playoff teams. In those 18 games, they are scoring 99.5 points a game, about a point less than their season average, and giving up 99.4 points a game, about five more than their season average. While the Clippers are fourth in offensive efficiency and seventh in defensive efficiency overall, it doesn’t look like it when they play the teams they are going to need to beat to reach the Finals.

Quick Look Ahead

The Clippers' next two games are against teams that should be playing for the first pick and not the playoffs at this point: the Kings and Sixers. In other words, I fully expect the Clippers to win both by double digits with plenty of highlights to fill up Sportcenter's Top 10.

The Clippers have 15 games left this season with six of those against playoff teams. Only two games though, Memphis and San Antonio, will serve as a benchmark for the playoffs. So while the payoffs are a second season and anything can happen, it does help knowing that you can beat the top teams headed into it. If not, then I would start worrying just a little bit.