The Los Angeles Clippers are on a 14-game winning streak and putting in a serious claim to be the league's team to beat.
Image by Jason Redmond / AP
In a massive turnaround from pretty much every season in franchise history prior to this one, the Los Angeles Clippers have established themselves as the league's best team about a quarter of the way through the season. Now, by best, do I mean that they'll be holding a championship trophy come June? Not exactly — as logic dictates, the Miami Heat are still the team to conquer, with Oklahoma City firmly ensconced in second place. But right now, the Clippers are dominant; they've won a remarkable 14 games in a row, and their average point differential of +9.6 is not only a full point above the second-place Thunder's — if it held, it would also be one of the best in NBA history.
So, how have the perpetually moribund Clippers reached such great heights? I'll show you.
Chris Paul reached a peak in performance during the 2008–09 season before seeing a dip, partly caused by injuries and partly caused by a lackluster Hornets supporting cast, from 2009–2011. But his trade to the Clippers before last season reinvigorated the league's best point guard, and his numbers this year — 16 points and 9.5 assists per game on .479/.368/.889 shooting — hint at how superb he's been. More than just stats, though, it's the winning percentage that really conveys how good Paul, as the team's floor general and quarterback, has been, and if hockey assists were counted in basketball (a pass that leads to a pass that leads to a score), you'd see that he's involved in basically every Clippers play when he's on the floor.
Like any top point guard in the modern NBA, Paul can score for himself, though it's not his preferred mode of operation. Compensating for his small stature, Paul has magnificent handles and a well-measured floater, which he put above the excellent shot-blocker JaVale McGee during this possession from the Christmas night game against the Denver Nuggets.
And then there are passes like these, the ingenuity and thrill of which are as great as any in basketball.