INGLEWOOD — The Clippers, like most teams, stick to the company line when talking about their postseason chances. It’s more about us, than them.
“We can’t control what anybody else is doing so we have to control what we are doing as best as possible,” assistant coach Brian Shaw said. “Everybody else keeps winning that we are jockeying (in the standings in) trying to get to that six spot. We have to keep winning, too. So, we’re just finding a way.”
Star point guard James Harden, who has not missed a postseason in his 16 years in the NBA, knows a thing or two about reaching the playoffs. Even he said the key is not to look outside the locker room for help.
“It’s important to win every game. It’s not even about the other team, it’s about us and us feeling really good about each other, which we do,” Harden said.
Then there is center Ivica Zubac, the Clippers’ emerging force in the paint, who checks on the standings of the congested Western Conference on a daily basis. Other teams matter, he said.
“We want to focus on ourselves and win as many games as we can, but at the same time every night I’m watching the games. I’m watching the teams in front of us, teams that are behind us in the standings, hoping they lose, and being a hater,” Zubac said.
The Clippers (40-30) currently are clinging to the No. 7 spot, percentage points ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves (41-31) and one game behind the Golden State Warriors (41-29). With 12 games remaining, the Clippers are trying to climb into the top six spots and avoid the Play-In Tournament (seeds 7-10).
The Clippers, who have won eight of their past nine games, including the past five, have established themselves as contenders after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, the top team in the Eastern Conference, and the Memphis Grizzlies (43-28), who are at No. 5.
Next up is the Oklahoma City Thunder (58-12) on Sunday at Intuit Dome and nothing about beating the NBA’s top team and Western Conference power will be easy. The Thunder, winners of five in a row and 12 of their last 13, are seen as one of the favorites to win the NBA championship.
Shaw, who is filling in for coach Tyronn Lue while he recovers from back pain, said the Clippers “have to be ready.”
The main reason is leading MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging a league-best 32.9 points and also leads OKC with 6.3 assists per game and a 52.8 field-goal percentage. The three-time All-Star point guard and former Clipper – a key piece in the 2019 blockbuster trade that brought Paul George to L.A. – scored 30 points in a 141-106 blowout of the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, making 13 of 18 shots to go with six rebounds and nine assists and he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter.
But Gilgeous-Alexander won’t be the Clippers’ only concern. The Thunder have a deep roster with four other players averaging double figures – forwards Jalen Williams (21.3) and Chet Holmgren (15.2), guard Aaron Wiggins (11.6) and center Isaiah Hartenstein (11.4), another former Clipper.
The Clippers boast their own deep scoring threat. With a healthy roster for the first time this season, the team has seven players in double figures, led by Norman Powell’s team-best 23.0-point average. The former UCLA star is working his way back after missing seven games because of injuries. Harden is right behind at 22.6 points a game. Leonard is healthy and back to contributing 19.7 points a game, while Zubac is adding 16.4 points and 12.5 rebounds. Trade-deadline acquisition Bogdan Bogdanovic is dropping 12.8 points in 18 games with the Clippers.
While Leonard called Sunday’s game an opportunity to see “how the best of the league is playing.” Zubac said it, like all the others down the stretch, is “a must win.”
“I think we’re in a rhythm right now,” Zubac said. “Obviously, we are going to be challenged … I don’t know if it’s going to show where we are, but it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
Oklahoma City at Clippers
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Intuit Dome
TV/radio: KTLA (Ch. 5)/KEIB 1150 AM