Several smart NBA people have mentioned throughout the season that the Clippers carry themselves like a team that has already won a championship and understand what it takes to win in the postseason, and they can afford to kind of slack off a bit during the regular season. This explains why probably the most talented team in the league is not running away with the #1 seed. The thing is that outside of Kawhi (and Doc) nobody on the team has actually won big in the postseason before, and this combination of players hasn't won jack shit. Sometimes you see that, especially in games like tonight.
Some notes:
- I don't think Anthony Davis is better than Kawhi, but tonight the Clippers had no answer for him. He might just be a bad matchup, but you can't reasonably check him with Zubic and Noah; he is way too quick for those guys and that is how he kept getting to the line. Perhaps with Harrell back he will be a better option, he isn't a great defender but he is quick and will work hard. I think in a playoff series we might see Kawhi on Davis a lot because Kawhi can do anything..
- The Lakers closed with LeBron/Caruso/Green/Kuzma/Davis. That is asking a lot from Caruso and Kuzma, who hung in their tonight. It is possible as young players they make a leap and prove that they belong, but they are going to sink or swim this team. If they can play reasonable defense and make threes, the Lakers will probably win the title if LeBron/Davis stay healthy. If they make a lot of mistakes LA is likely doomed, at least until Bradley comes back because he can take a lot of the Caruso minutes and guard smaller guards.
- Down the stretch you saw a big difference in who could get the desired matchups. Despite the fact that the Clippers had Kawhi and George, the Lakers were able to work switches to get LeBron one-on-one against Jamychal Green, and LeBron beat Green twice for key baskets, including the eventual game-winner (well, the brick off the rim that fell right to him).
On the flip side, the Clippers failed to do this of offense. In the final minute, two times they tried to get Kawhi into a favorable switch and they failed, because the set a shitty screen. A key point was on their third-to-last-possession, when Landry Shamet set a terrible screen while LeBron was guarding Kawhi, where Shamet didn't even touch LeBron. A good screen there and Kawhi is one-on-one with Caruso, instead he had a less-favorable matchup. On the final possession they didn't get anything going because they again set shitty screens, forcing no switches or productive action at all, leading to a messy final shot. Just bad execution that really cost them the game.
- I still like the Clippers because of their depth and because if they do have Williams/Harrell that gives them another wrinkle on offense and the Lakers are pretty one-dimensional with LeBron/Davis PnR and praying the perimeter guys hit their threes. I think the Clippers haven't shown their full hand, and something like Kawhi on AD is something you break out in a playoff series. However, the inconsistency of the Clippers and the lack of success as a core would worry me if I was a fan.