NBA: Season preview

Leading contenders Clippers out for redemption

PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LOS ANGELES • In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers' biggest obstacle to reaching their second successive National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is expected to come from a Los Angeles Clippers team eager to hit the reset button following a shock second-round play-off exit last season.

The Clippers, led by two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard and fellow All-Star Paul George, have named Tyronn Lue as head coach, charging him with sorting out team chemistry and steering the squad to a maiden title like he did with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

On the surface, they are a talented group whose roster is unrivalled by any other team except for the Lakers. But last season deep divisions were exposed.

They have since fired coach Doc Rivers and brought in last year's NBA Championship-winning centre Serge Ibaka from the Toronto Raptors to replace Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, who left to join the Lakers. Ibaka should make for a more versatile Clippers' front court, offering rim protection, floor spacing, and perimeter defence and his 38.5 per cent connection from deep last season will also help the offence.

The Clippers' bench led the league in scoring, averaging 50.3 points per game last term, and although they lost Landry Shamet and Rodney McGruder, forward Nicolas Batum and guard Luke Kennard are solid additions.

George, whose "Play-off P" nickname became a meme after he struggled in the post-season, is hoping to restore his reputation as one of the league's best forwards.

"The way I was being used - Doc was trying to play me as a Ray Allen or a J.J. Redick, all pin-downs. I can do it, but that ain't my game," he told the All The Smoke podcast last week. "I need some flow, some mixes of pick-and-rolls, I need some post-ups, just different touches."

In the Eastern Conference, fans will finally get to see Kevin Durant (right) play alongside Kyrie Irving and, if he is fully recovered and stays healthy, the Brooklyn Nets should prove to be a serious threat to the Milwaukee Bucks and last term's NBA Finalists Miami Heat.

The last time Durant was seen on a court, he was leaving the 2019 NBA Finals with a torn Achilles tendon. He left the Golden State Warriors to join the Nets that summer but has yet to play a competitive game for Brooklyn.

The Nets have never won the NBA Championship and they have a rookie coach in Steve Nash. But hopes are high of a deep post-season run. Because of the shortened season, the Nets will not have the luxury of time to gel, so Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert, the two longest-serving players on the roster and entering their fifth season with the team, will have key roles to fulfil.

The Bucks have been the team to beat in the past two regular seasons, twice finishing with the league's best record, only to choke in the play-offs.

However, with the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the winner of the past two Most Valuable Player awards, cleared up the team can press forward with confidence.

Milwaukee have also strengthened their status as contenders after their blockbuster trade to acquire Jrue Holiday, one of the NBA's best two-way guards, from the New Orleans Pelicans.

The All-Star is confident he can help his new team "get over the hump".

"I think I fit in perfectly," he told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Somebody that can also attack the basket and get other people open. On the defensive end, that's going to be our biggest strength. It's going to be hard for people to score on us."

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 21, 2020, with the headline Leading contenders Clippers out for redemption. Subscribe