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Clippers Player Grades: Catching Up After Four
I did a round of player grades after two games, so it’s time to update the grades after four games with the series tied at 2-2.
Starters
James Harden: B (Previous Grade: B+)
Harden hasn’t had any truly brilliant performances since Game 1, but was excellent in Game 3 (20 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists) and merely below average in Game 4 (15 points and 11 assists but with 4 turnovers). Similarly to Kawhi, my biggest complaint for Game 4 was just not being aggressive enough, as Harden took just 11 shots and an insanely low 2 threes. The Nuggets are specifically game planning to take away Harden, far more than they are Kawhi, but he still needs to get up more shots – and especially threes – than that. Harden has not had a truly bad game in this series, but the Clippers do need more of a scoring punch from him to win this series.
Norm Powell: C+ (Previous Grade: D+)
No Clipper has boosted their grades more from the first two games than Norm, who had two quite good outings in Games 3 and 4 with 20 and 22 points respectively on excellent efficiency. I don’t think either was a true “A+” Norm game, but they were extremely welcome returns to form after his horrid performances in the first two games. It was Norm’s shotmaking that was critical in the 4th quarter comeback in Game 4, with every single attempt he took going in and his ability to score off secondary action cooking the Nuggets multiple times. If he can uncork for a 30-point explosion, that would be great, but as long as he continues playing at the level of Games 3-4 the Clippers will be in a solid spot.
Kris Dunn: B (Previous Grade: A-)
After a very strong first three games of the series, Kris unfortunately has to be docked for his Game 4 showing, when he went 1-9 from the field, 1-6 from three, and was a team-worst -12 in 21 minutes. That’s not to say his decision-making was bad – he took all of his shots with confidence, and the overall decision-making on both ends was correct; he just missed the shots. I wouldn’t say I’m super discouraged by Dunn’s outing, as a lot of his shots were in-and-out, not complete bricks. That said, if the shots don’t start falling at an at least acceptable rate, I’d imagine his minutes will continue to tick down as we head into the latter half of the series. The defense with him is awesome, but with the Clippers’ offense struggling, the Clips might have to move away from him.
Kawhi Leonard: B (Previous Grade: A-)
It’s been a bit of an odd series for Kawhi, who has had one true superstar performance in Game 2 but has been largely kept in control outside of that. His Game 3 was very good – 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists on decent efficiency – but his Game 4 was not, even though the counting stats (22 points and 9 rebounds) were decent. Kawhi just has not been aggressive enough in going for his shot and has not really been able to “take over” games outside of that one magical night in Game 2. The Clippers simply need more from Kawhi, who has been good but not great. If there’s anyone on the Clippers who can go at least toe-to-toe with Jokic, it’s Kawhi, and the gap there is too big through four games.
Ivica Zubac: A- (Previous Grade: B+)
Big Zu has been the Clippers’ most consistent player in this series by a country mile. Zu has churned out 19 points and 11 rebounds for series averages and has basically hit that mark in every game. That does mean he hasn’t had any truly huge performances, but 19 and 11 on excellent efficiency and with great defense on Nikola Jokic is still phenomenal. Zu is doing so much for the Clippers on both ends and has held up on every challenge the Nuggets have thrown at him. He has been getting tons of flowers for this series, and deserves all of them. A true coming out party for Zu after a fantastic regular season.
Bench
Bogdan Bogdanovic: D- (Previous Grade: F)
This has been a miserable series for Bogi, who is 4-18 from the field, 1-8 from three, and has 9 assists to 6 turnovers as the nominal backup point guard. His Game 4 was the first game he really contributed almost anything positive, with 7 points on 3-7 shooting, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists while playing in the offensively charged 4th quarter unit that almost completed an epic comeback. However, outside of his incredible offensive rebound and follow-up late in the quarter, Bogi didn’t really contribute much tangible to that stretch, which was mostly driven by Harden, Zu, and Norm. Combine the miserable shooting with mostly bad defense (he was, again, better on that end in Game 4) and you have a D-. The Clippers desperately need an actually good Bogi game in the next couple contests, and hopefully Game 4 gives him the confidence he needs to perform the rest of the series.
Nic Batum: A- (Previous Grade: A)
Nic Batum followed up two very good games to start the series with one of the best performances by a Clippers’ role player in franchise history (yeah I said it) in Game 3. His 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks understate his performance, which was massive on both ends. Unfortunately, what had been an A+ through three games has to be knocked by a Game 4 when Nico went 1-6 from three, all on wide open attempts. The Clippers have to deal with Dunn and DJJ’s inconsistent shooting so need their premier shooters to make a high percentage of shots – and Nico failed to do so in Game 4. It’s hard to really punish players for the vagaries of shooting, but each open missed Nico three felt like a backbreaker. Still, he’s been the best Clippers role player by far to this point, and probably needs to be at worst 5th in minutes going forward.
Derrick Jones Jr.: C- (Previous Grade: I forgot (C))
This has been a hugely forgettable series for DJJ, so much so that I forgot to even write about him in my first player grades article. His best game by far was Game 3, when he scored 10 points and hit two threes, but for the series DJJ is averaging just 6 points per game and is just 2-7 from beyond the arc. Honestly, the 7 attempts figure there is more troubling than the 2 makes – DJJ only taking 7 threes in 81 minutes is not really acceptable. For as much as Kris Dunn is being left open and that mucking up the offense, DJJ is being treated the same way except he isn’t even taking the threes. His defense has been quite good, but not great, and the Nuggets have taken away his lobs in the halfcourt. Honestly, a C feels kind of generous but there haven’t been many truly bad moments, and the defense is enough to keep him at a passing grade… but just barely.
Ben Simmons: B- (Previous Grade: A-)
Ben’s grade gets knocked significantly here, as a pretty solid Game 3 was followed by a completely ineffective Game 4. It’s hard to say that Ben isn’t performing at least somewhat above expectations – he’s been good on defense and the Clippers have survived his minutes. However, the sheer lack of anything on offense (four points and four assists total across four games) means he can’t be given a higher grade, especially with how desperate the Clippers are for offense at this point.