Defending the bigs an Achilles’ heel for LA Clippers

The LA Clippers have defensive strength all over the floor except for defending opposition big men.

The LA Clippers are a defensive fortress. They have so many lock down perimeter defenders that opposition wings can struggle to get a decent look. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard can defend guards, wings and power forwards at an all-defensive level.

Patrick Patterson, Maurice Harkless and JaMychal Green are all talented defenders who can defend wings and power forwards. Patrick Beverley is a defensive-minded point guard who can defend guards and wings.

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This all means there is an awful lot of switching going on around the perimeter. However, there is not a lot of help for the pivot. Ivica Zubac is the only player over 6’9″ on the roster and at 240 pounds is giving up 15 pounds to the likes of Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

His backup, Montrezl Harrell, is 6’7″ and 240 pounds. He simply does not have the height to take on some of the game’s best centers. To get through the playoffs, the Clippers are going to have to stop some solid big men.

Taking a look at the teams who are currently in playoff positions, most of them have a top quality center. Most of them have some pretty solid backups as well.

The Portland Trail Blazers have a tremendous combination of Jusuf Nurkic, Hassan Whiteside and Skal Labissiere. When Nurkic is healthy, they have the option of running a two-headed duo down low.

The Thunder have Adams and Nerlens Noel, who showed in the recent game that they were able to feast in the paint. Likewise, if the Clippers run across the Utah Jazz, they will run into Rudy Gobert, who is one of the most dominant pivots in the league.

The Houston Rockets have Clint Capela, who is very good at the pick and roll. He also has two of the best passing point guards in the league who can get the ball above the rim for Capela to capitalize.

The Denver Nuggets have Nikola Jokic, who is a handful for any defense, let alone one which does not have a dominant post defender. They also have Mason Plumlee — who is 6’11” — as their reserve.

However, the biggest threat to the Clippers’ finals aspirations is their co-tenant, the Los Angeles Lakers. They have JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis who are 250 pounds or heavier. They also have two point guards who can exploit lesser paint defenders in Rajon Rondo and LeBron James.

The Clippers are currently beating teams utilizing the offensive skills of Leonard, George, Harrell and Lou Williams. Defensively they disrupt the ball outside using deflections and pressure. This has been a very successful tactic as the Clippers are currently fifth in the league for points allowed in the paint.

However, as my business statistics lecturer used to say, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Here are some numbers which show that the center position is indeed a massive issue for the Clippers.

Adams was able to dominate the Clippers with 20 points and 17 rebounds, shooting the ball at 66.7 percent from the floor. In the Rockets game on Dec. 9, Capela had 16 points and eight rebounds, shooting the ball at 88.9 percent from the floor.

Go back to the Minnesota Timberwolves game on Dec. 13 and Karl-Anthony Towns had 39 points and 12 rebounds, shooting the ball at 54.5 percent from the floor. We can keep going but you get the idea.

Every team with a skilled big man is feasting against the LA Clippers. That is a worry for this team if they want to have a chance of making it through the playoffs.