The Los Angeles Clippers’ path to the NBA Finals is littered with booby traps, unscalable walls and, in all likelihood, the history-making Golden State Warriors. To overcome it all, they need the impossible to happen, and that starts with Blake Griffin turning into a small-ball-crushing cyborg.
In Game 1 of L.A.’s first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers, that’s exactly what he was. Griffin finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists en route to a 115-95 victory against a team that refused to fight size with size.
This is already one of the most intriguing stylistic matchups in the first round.
L.A.’s main strength is its starting lineup, where Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan form one of the most continuously devastating combinations in the sport. They're big and traditional.
Portland is not.
After spending most of this season with a traditional-looking starting five, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts replaced power forward Noah Vonleh with the 6’9” Maurice Harkless i ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Michael Pina
Combating Small Ball Key to Playoff Success for Blake Griffin, LA Clippers
April 18th, 2016 by Michael Pina Leave a reply »
Advertisement