5 things that went wrong for LA Clippers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs
The Phoenix Suns demolished the LA Clippers with a 130-103 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals at Staples Center on Wednesday. The Suns finished off the Clippers with a 4-2 series victory that put an end to LA’s inspiring postseason run.
The 2020-21 season began with a lot of promise for the LA Clippers but there were a lot of things that conspired against them that kept them from reaching the NBA Finals. Some of these unfortunate incidents were self-inflicted but others were just unavoidable circumstances that could have befallen any team in the league.
Regardless, the 2020-21 LA Clippers have gone deeper into the postseason than any roster in franchise history. It’s a season to be celebrated for sure, but one can’t help but wonder about what could have been.
#5 Not having a “true” point guard
Before the season started, Kawhi Leonard was reportedly pushing the LA Clippers to get him a point guard. Let's face it, Reggie Jackson and Patrick Beverley are point guards in name only. Without the playmaker that Leonard requested, they were 17th in the league with 24.4 assists per game during the regular season.
They got Rajon Rondo (more on him later) at the trade deadline, but he hardly played in the regular season or the postseason. And when he played in the playoffs, the results weren’t too encouraging either.
In the first two rounds of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, the LA Clippers averaged just 21.8 assists a night and went further down in the Western Conference Finals to just 18.7 per contest. With defenses tightening as they went deeper into the playoffs, it’s expected for assists to go down further. But the fact that they didn’t have a true point guard on the floor most of the time caused their offense to stagnate at the most inopportune times.
In contrast, the Phoenix Suns are third in the postseason in assists per game (24.4), and are headed to the Finals.
#4 The LA Clippers fell in love with the 3-point shot
The LA Clippers had the highest 3-point shooting percentage in the regular season at 41.1 percent, so we can forgive them for believing in their 3-point shooting even in the playoffs. But they fell to seventh overall in the postseason with a very respectable 38.1 percent.
However, they fell in love with the 3-pointer even when it wasn’t falling regularly. By the Western Finals, the LA Clippers made just 33.5 percent of their threes. In Games 4 and 6, both losses, coach Tyronn Lue’s squad made just 16.1 percent (5-of-31) and 30.8 percent (12-of-39) from beyond the arc.