Los Angeles Clippers: First 5 games review in 2017-18

After five games, the Los Angeles Clippers are 4-1 and second in the Western Conference. Here is a look at a second straight season with a shockingly hot start for the Clippers.

The Los Angeles Clippers are once again on fire to start the season. They opened the 2016-17 campaign with an astonishing 14-2 record, including some record-breaking Net Ratings from their first few games.

The Clippers might not be able to get all the way to 14-2, but they have impressed the league through their first five games. They are currently 4-1 after losing their last game. They are tied for second in the conference behind the even more surprising 5-1 Memphis Grizzlies.

The Clippers could have been forgiven for a rough start to the season. Instead, they are making a case for Bill Simmons’ famous Ewing Theory with Chris Paul moving onto the Houston Rockets. While the season is still young, the Clippers once again look like a playoff team. They will have to maintain their incredible level of play to start the season, but the first five games have been almost entirely positive for a team with many questions before the season began.

Defensive excellence

The Los Angeles Clippers under Doc Rivers have always been an offense-first team. They finished both of the first two seasons under Rivers with the best Offensive Rating in the league, per NBA.com.

The offense has still been solid for the Clippers in this young season. They are fourth in Offensive Rating, averaging 110.3 points per 100 possessions. The Clippers are just 0.3 points per 100 possessions away from third place, despite being well behind the league-leading Golden State Warriors‘ absurd mark of 117.6 points per 100 possessions.

DeAndre Boardin’

DeAndre Jordan deserves much of the credit for the Clippers’ excellent defense thus far. His defensive IQ and intensity are hard to understate, but defense is not the only area in which DeAndre has stood out in this young season.

Blake’s Brilliance

The Los Angeles Clippers deserve credit for their excellent team defense. DeAndre Jordan deserves a ton of credit for both his rebounding and his contributions to that defense. Nonetheless, the obvious and primary motivator for the team’s early success is Blake Griffin.

Blake has been doing it all through the first five games for the Clippers. He is averaging 24.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, running the offense while also playing top-notch defense. His leaping ability, a question in recent years, seems to be back in full force:

While Blake’s athleticism might once have been the only driving force of his offensive game, Griffin has steadily expanded his offensive repertoire over the course of his career. He has steadily improved his jump shot from non-existent to solid from mid-range.

Last season, Blake took his first real foray beyond the arc. He was at least respectable from distance, knocking down 33.6 percent of his 113 triples. This season, Griffin appears to be fully comfortable from long range. He has already tried 29 shots from deep, and his 5.8 3-point attempts per game vastly outstrips his 1.9 per game rate from last year.

More importantly, Griffin is knocking down those deep looks. Blake has made 12 of his 29 threes (41.4 percent) and has knocked down 11 of 23 attempts from above the break — including this stone-cold game-winner against the Portland Trail Blazers:

It would be unfair to expect Blake to be a 40 percent shooter from deep this season. However, he is clearly more comfortable taking shots from out there. As defenses key in on Griffin being a threat from distance, that in turn will open up more driving lanes for Blake and more open angles for his teammates.

Next: 2017-18 Week 3 NBA Power Rankings

For a player who is an early MVP candidate, any more open looks should be a scary thought for opponents and a comforting one for Clippers fans with deserved playoff ambitions.

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