Post#818 » by og15 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 6:40 am
In terms of the playoffs, watching Westbrook vs Utah makes me realize how good Chris Paul really was on this team. Taking that into account Griffin being out after 2.5 games, the non-existent Redick, injured Rivers, DJ being the teams second option, Paul put up 25/5/10 on 50/37 shooting and willed the Clippers to two wins without Griffin (Blake didn't participate in the second half of the second win). The Jazz are better and healthier (in the post-season) team this season, but the health issues were a problem for both teams, and not having Griffin at all was a bigger health problem. The Thunder have far more talent than a Griffin-less Clippers, actually technically they should be more talented than the Clippers with Griffin. Paul-Westbrook, Griffin-George, Redick-Carmelo, Jordan-Adams, and yet, not only are they playing worse, Westbrook is performing at a far inferior level individually despite having more help. Also, according to at least some Clippers fans, Doc is the worst coach in the league and has been for a couple of seasons, so coaching isn't the difference either.
Paul wasn't/isn't the guy to carry a team to a championship without another guy consistently as good or even better than him, but Westbrook without Durant, at least so far, and unless something changes this series is proving that he is possibly even less of that type of player. Having a super efficient and high volume scoring guy like Durant to make up the efficiency difference, which allowed Westbrook to contribute in other areas and allowed his efficiency inconsistency to still allow for high wins and playoff success. Still, we all remember than on their finals run, Russ was the third best player vs SA, and I believe Parker even outplayed him, but a series isn't won by one individual matchup, and Harden and Durant tore up the Spurs.
EDIT: Not just Westbrook, add Lillard to the mix, though with a slight pass due to injury. Westbrook can't break down the Jazz defense and create good shots. Lillard doesn't know how to adjust when a team starts double teaming the pick and roll, despite the injury and still can't impact on defense. These guys have CJ McCollum and Paul George as their partners, much better starting perimeter guys compared to anything the Clippers had. One gets swept shooting 35/30 and averaging just 18.5 ppg, and the second could be backdoor swept in 5 games and so far is shooting 37/21. We complained because Paul didn't take every shot down the court or because he would have one bad game in a series.
