LA Clippers: 3 players poised to step up in NBA Bubble
Togetherness is the key to the bubble. The LA Clippers will need these three players, in particular, to step up if they hope to win an NBA championship.
Just when things seemed to be going great the LA Clippers were halted by Devin Booker’s jump shot. The Clippers lost their last game against the Phoenix Suns 117-115. They are currently 2-2 in the bubble.
Everything seemed to be fixed against the New Orleans Pelicans as the Clippers set the franchise record for 3-pointers in a game but the Clippers looked flat against the Suns.
After making 25 threes against the Pelicans the Clippers only made eight against the Suns. Not having Patrick Beverley proved costly in terms of their ability to generate any energy on the floor.
Kawhi Leonard and head coach Doc Rivers talked about the lack of energy on the floor.
"“Give Phoenix credit. I thought they played so much harder than us throughout the game.”"
“All we can do is just keep using these games as a learning experience, [make] less mistakes next game, give a better effort, more energy,” Leonard said. “That’s pretty much it.”
Rivers had a masterful response to the game against Phoenix. Against Dallas, he put Landry Shamet in the starting lineup and gave the playmaking and ball-handling duties to George and Leonard. That made the team more defensive-oriented like they were with Beverley in the lineup and with their stars handling the ball more, it created more open opportunities for easier baskets.
Players have been missing, yes, but this team is a deep team and with a coach like Doc Rivers they will have to make the adjustments. The loss of Beverley affected the game against the Suns but they learned from that loss. Harrell has still not played a game yet but what they learned in the game against the Dallas Mavericks who are a playoff team that this team is deep and what they have can work.
Players are going to come in and out. For the Clippers to win role players will have to become heroes. Here are three of those type of players.