NBA Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers’ Bench Needs To Step Up

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By @pjacobosports

Jamal Crawford Los Angeles Clippers

Kelvin Kuo- USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Clippers were projected by many experts as the third-best team in the entire league. At 21-11 they certainly have not played like it. They escaped in Monday night against the Utah Jazz 101-97, and as of now they are sixth in the tough Western Conference.

Los Angeles boasts two superstars in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. DeAndre Jordan is making his case as the Defensive Player of the Year, but after those three the Clippers don’t have much else. What can be attributed to Los Angeles’ inconsistent play?

The Clippers came into the season with one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. In 30 plus games the bench simply has not delivered. Other than the reigning Sixth Man of the Year winner Jamal Crawford, the rest of the bench has been non-existent, ranking 28th in the entire league.

The Clippers are 7-9 against current playoff teams from both conferences. They are 0-4 against the Eastern Conference’s top four and 5-4 when matched up with the best of the West. The bench has let the team down all season.

Crawford has been on fire the past few games by scoring over 17 points in eight of the last nine games. In the past five games, including the game with the Jazz, the bench has scored, 22, 33, 28, 25 and 37 points. Their record is 2-3 during that stretch, and Crawford has scored the majority of those bench points.

The Clippers cannot be considered title contenders with weak bench play. The second unit has given up too many leads this year, and the bench’s up-and-down play has led Doc Rivers to play his starting unit heavy minutes. Exhaustion could be starting to set in.

Jordan Farmar, Glen Davis and Spencer Hawes need to help Crawford carry some of the scoring and buy the starters time to rest. If the second unit can maintain or extend leads in games, the Clippers will be able to compete against the upper echelon of the NBA. The organization needs to address this issue quickly.

Crawford is capable of taking over the game, but he’s primarily an isolation scorer. The rest of the cast is made up of spot-up shooters who have shot terribly this season. The top-tier teams simply have taken the ball out of Crawford’s hands and forced the rest of the bench to try and score. Farmar is capable of scoring as he showed last year with the Los Angeles Lakers by scoring 10 points a game while shooting over 41 percent from the field.

The Clippers’ bench has 50 games to turn it up. They possess a deep roster to contend with any of the top teams, but they need to play better.

Pablo Jacobo is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @getempsports, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on Google.

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