PLAYA VISTA — If it’s broke, fix it.
Coach Tyronn Lue suggested before practice Sunday that the Clippers’ 1-4 start has shown him enough to know he’s got to start tinkering, maybe as soon as Monday’s game against the 1-5 Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center.
“If you’re playing well and you’re getting the shots you want to get and you’re not making them, does that call for change?” Lue asked. “That’s the biggest thing you go back and forth with. Just continuing to mess with the rotations and try to take away those stints where we go four, five, six minutes without scoring when PG is off the floor. We have to do something about that. So we’ve got something we’ll try tomorrow.”
For the most part, Paul George has been the Clippers’ only real reliable source offense early on, averaging 27.6 points per game on 50% shooting from the field.
When he’s been on the court, they have an offensive rating (or how many points they score per 100 possessions) of 104.5 — hardly blistering, but better than the 96.0 offensive rating they have when he’s off the floor.
Here’s an example of what that looked like in Friday’s 116-92 loss in Portland: George got his first breather with 2:51 to go in the first period having scored nine points and with his side leading 21-18. When he checked back in with 8:05 to go in the second period, the Clippers had scored only six more points and trailed by nine.
Lue wasn’t going to share what rotation adjustments he might have in mind, but perhaps he rethinks the stagger that has Reggie Jackson on the floor operating as the primary ball handler with the second unit for the majority of the minutes that George is out? On Friday, Jackson played 11 of the 13 minutes that George sat.
Or maybe Terance Mann (who is shooting 41.0%) and/or Luke Kennard (44.0%) get promoted to the starting lineup in place of Jackson (31.3%) and Eric Bledsoe (37.5%)?
“I can’t tell you,” Lue said, “but I’ve got to do a better job of making sure we’ve got the right combinations on the floor and making sure we’re doing the right thing.
“It’s not just our team making shots, because we are getting good shots, but I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that guys are in the right spot, playing real well together and everyone meshes.
“We’re still searching and trying to find that, but I think we’re pretty close.”
He’s not wrong about the tantalizing, high-definition looks the Clippers keep clanging.
They lead the NBA in “open” shots, taking 28.4 per game with the closest defender between 4 and 6 feet away. The problem is that they’re making those just 35.2% of the time so far.
It’s a similar plight from long distance: The Clippers have averaged 19.0 open 3-point attempts per contest this season, second-best in the league. But they’re converting those golden opportunities only 30.5% of the time.
That’s something of a plot twist for a team that made 42.5% of its 24.9 open shots per game last season, and 40.9% of its 14.3 open 3s.
“That’s just what it is right now, we gotta make our shots,” said Mann, noting that while the Clippers might be letting opponents off the hook by failing to score enough to keep up, they’re not exactly hemorrhaging points, with a 102.3 defensive rating that’s ninth-best in the league entering Sunday.
“I mean, we’re getting good looks, and we’re getting stops, it’s not like we’re not getting stops,” Mann said. “We just gotta make our shots, so that’s why we’re not worried. It’s just a matter of make and miss.
“Everybody’s been there before. Where you’re not making enough shots to win games, so just keep working on your game, keep your same routine, keep getting your reps up and they’ll fall, for sure.”
Especially, perhaps, if Lue can find a lever or two to pull that will help tee them up a little more comfortably.
THUNDER (1-5) at CLIPPERS (1-4)
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Staples Center
TV: Bally Sports SoCal
Terance Mann on Paul George’s play: “It’s really inspiring to see what he does for us in a nightly basis.” pic.twitter.com/FY1iiud8qd
— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) October 31, 2021