The Case For The Clippers:
Clippers fans are as happy as ever with the recent acquisitions of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, but they are most certainly not satisfied. Clippers fans want their franchise to win it’s first-ever NBA Championship. The one team that seems to interfere most with that possibility this season though, is the Los Angeles Lakers.
When the Clippers signed Leonard and acquired George from the Oklahoma City Thunder, many, including myself, believed them to surpass the Lakers as the team most likely to win a championship this season. Then, the Lakers made some fine additions to their roster, which threatens the Clippers chances of procuring that desired first NBA title.
What the Clippers have over the Lakers are chemistry and defense. Led by an outstanding head coach and incredible front office, the Clippers made the NBA playoffs last season, They even took the Western Conference Champions, the Warriors, to as many games as the Houston Rockets did. They proved to have tremendous team chemistry without a single All-Star, and now they just added two.
The two All-Stars that the Clippers signed just so happened to be two of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Leonard is considered by most to be the league’s best perimeter defender and Paul George led all players last season in steals per game. Add Patrick Beverly and Montrezl Harrell, and you have maybe the best defensive starting lineup in basketball. While the Lakers and Clippers matchup pretty evenly on the offensive end, the Clippers have a definite edge over the Lakers in defense and team chemistry.