Paul George said the newly re-tooled Clippers expect to win coming into games now. The team has strung together three victories in a row after losing six straight.
“I think we have gone through the rough patch of how to play, what it looks like, and we’ve found success in who we are,” George said in San Antonio.
It’s easy to find success against two of the lesser teams in the Western Conference. The Clippers’ recent victories have come against Houston and San Antonio Spurs (twice), giving them confidence moving forward. But the mood could change Friday when the Clippers take on the New Orleans Pelicans (8-7), a team they have beaten just once in their last nine meetings.
Their recent soft-ish schedule, though, has afforded the Clippers the chance to settle into their roles – James Harden as the primary ball handler; Russell Westbrook on the second unit with George; reserve center Daniel Theis with new teammates, and Kawhi Leonard finding his touch amid the changes.
“It’s about getting on the floor, getting comfortable and (taking on) new roles. (Harden] makes the game a lot easier for me, (helping me) get some wide-open looks and that’s all I can ask for,” Leonard said. “He’s stepping it up on defense, but like I said, it’s a group thing.”
Consistency will be key for the Clippers, who find themselves inching back to .500 after a rocky start but face a tough stretch of five games in seven nights that includes the defending champion Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks.
Getting through the next week could be a turning point or a falling off point in the standings. The five-game run includes a pair of back-to-backs.
“We want to win every game and it shows that we’re getting better,” Leonard said Wednesday after the Clippers defeated the Spurs, 109-102. “But like you said, we still got a lot to learn and to get better at. You guys could see at the end of that game, we had some careless turnovers, and they got some easy looks at the basket and wide-open layups. So, we got to buy in and figure that out.”
After solidly defeating the Spurs on Monday, the Clippers slid into familiar bad habits two nights later. One night they turned the ball over just seven times; the next game they had 11 in the first half and finished with 16 overall.
“That’s just something to learn from. We just can’t let our guard down and need to continue to play through the game,” Coach Tyronn Lue said.
“We shared the basketball, but (the Spurs) did some different things. They played some zone, tried to trick the game up a little bit and it gave us some problems. We just need to keep playing the game and not get comfortable … not let our foot off the gas.”
Despite the early struggles, the Clippers’ big four have reached a level of success in their respective roles and with each other. Leonard and George are consistently producing high numbers, both averaging 20-plus a game; Harden is sharing the ball (he has 47 assists in eight games, while averaging 16.0 points), and Westbrook has settled in the second unit, averaging five assists, 8.2 points and has five steals in the three games he has come off the bench.
Harden and Westbrook combined for 16 assists in the two victories against the Spurs and three consecutive 20-plus points games for Leonard.
“I think we’re in a good place. We kind of know at this point what the rotation is, and I think we’re getting in a rhythm,” George said. “There’s consistency there, and I think that we’re in good shape. We liked how we looked offensively and defensively, and now it’s time to test it.”
