Los Angeles Clippers: 5 Reasons This Is Their Year

4. Improved Bench Unit

In years past, the Clippers’ most notable Achilles heel was their miserable bench. Lob City has had one of the NBA’s best starting units since Chris Paul joined Blake Griffin in L.A., but they’ve always fallen short in the playoffs, due in part to Doc Rivers being forced to ride his starters until they ran out of gas.

The Clippers have always had three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford, and he continues to put up 10-12 points per game on less than efficient shooting splits of .408/.333/.897. The rest of the supporting cast, however, has filled out nicely.

Marreese Speights, a surprising offseason addition that the Warriors are surely missing by now, has bolstered his former Pacific Division rival with 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 15.6 minutes per game.

Austin Rivers hasn’t been terrible, new addition Raymond Felton is providing defensive pressure while shooting a blistering 51.1 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from downtown, and Brandon Bass and Wesley Johnson have made sure there are no defensive drop-offs when the starters sit.

Even Luc Mbah a Moute has done his part, providing stifling wing defense in a complementary role. He plays with the starters, sure, but as a former bench player who was hardly expected to be a contributor, he’s performed well in his limited role, shooting 56.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from deep.

The Clippers’ second unit ranks sixth in scoring at 39.8 points per game and 10th in point differential at +0.8. Given what we know about the potency of Los Angeles’ starting lineup, if the bench can keep up this kind of production, they’ll be a well-oiled machine come playoff time.