Last Sunday, January 21, the Clippers played their 41st game of the season, a 125-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. That officially marked the exact halfway point of the 2023-2024 NBA season. Every team must do some reflection on this milestone. With that in mind, here is the Clippers midseason report.
LA Clippers Midseason Report Card
Rough Start
Going into the season, there was the hope for a season of healthy Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and co, while also being tired of having to hope every year for a healthy season after years of having seasons ruined by injuries. This led the team and fanbase to covet a trade for All-Star, former MVP, and hometown hero, James Harden. Harden was eventually traded to the team in a blockbuster move on October 31. The immediate aftermath of this wasn’t quite the game-changing result that the Clippers and Harden were hoping for. The team started the season 3-7 with embarrassing losses to the likes of the Nets and the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies, while the media lambasted them for bringing in Harden and trading away a lot of their depth pieces to get him. Adding fuel to the fire, Harden seemingly denied any responsibility, proclaiming: “I am the system. The Clippers just need to buy into me”. Additionally, a defiant Leonard exhorted the media to stop being such reactionaries and promised Clippers fans that “we will figure this out.”
Winning Streak
On the brink of disaster, something very strange began to happen at the Crypto.com Arena(the Crypt?). The Clippers began to win over and over again. On December 2, the Clippers narrowly beat the Golden State Warriors 113-112. The Clippers then didn’t lose again until Christmas Week. Their streak was doubly impressive because 8 of their 9 victories were against playoff teams including, but not limited to the Knicks, Kings, and reigning champion Nuggets. During the streak, it all began to click for the Clippers. Leonard and George played like the superstars they are. Harden was dishing it out like prime Steve Nash, unlocking Ivica Zubac to average career highs in PPG and RPG. One of the prime motivations for the streak was moving Russell Westbrook to the bench, where he was able to lead the second unit and be a firestarter off the bench. It was reminiscent of the Moneyball streak made famous by the Brad Pitt movie. There were even signs in the crowd proclaiming “We may never lose again”. Unfortunately, the Clippers did in fact lose again 134-115 to the Thunder on December 21.
Conference Ascension
While the streak did end, the Clippers continued to rocket up the ranks after the streak ended. On November 14, the Clippers were 13th and generally agreed to be going nowhere. Today, as I write this, the Clippers are 4th in the conference and generally agreed to be the real deal, top-tier championship contenders. They won 24 of their last 31 games following the unfortunate 3-7 start to the season. There were several impressive wins throughout that time including a 151 pt outing against the Indiana Pacers. Additionally, there was also a 131-122 victory, live and in color, with the whole world watching, on nationally televised primetime against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, one of those 7 losses was in a symbolically important matchup against their eternal inter-arena rival, the Lakers. Even more unfortunately, within the last week, the Clippers received some very bad news. Their very underrated center, Zubac, was out for weeks with a calf injury. However, despite this, several other players, including unlikely hero and former Celtics great Daniel Theis, have stepped in to fill in Zubac’s shoes and win 2 out of 3 games following Zubac’s injury. Only time will tell whether the Clippers can continue this high level of play without Zubac. However, as it stands, I can report that this Clippers midseason has been a resounding success.
Final Clippers Midseason Report Grade: A
Despite the unfortunate 3-7 beginning of the season as well as setbacks in the form of injuries to Leonard and Zubac, the Clippers have persevered and continued to prove themselves as the real deal in the Western Conference. This is the most exciting half-season the Clippers have had in years and there is more optimism than ever before that the Clippers can finally end their American record 64-year-long title drought. Whether this comes to pass is unknown, but the future looks very bright for the embattled team and Clipper faithful.
