Clippers’ reserves need to figure it out
The return of Chris Paul from a left thumb injury has put everyone back in their places, but it has also put the Clippers’ reserves in a state of disarray.
Austin Rivers has been back coming off the bench the last five games after he had been the starter in place of Paul ,and Raymond Felton is back with the substitutes for good now after a few starts.
But over the past few games, the bench has not played up to par, and they know it.
“There’s a certain adjustment period,” backup center Marreese Speights said. “With Austin back on the bench, that’s something we’ve got to get back used to. But like you said, you’re right, the bench has been struggling.
“That’s something we’ve got to get back to being better. It’s going to be all right. We’ll be all right.”
The Clippers have 20 regular-season games left to get their bench back playing better basketball.
“All the injuries that we had and all the rotations, it’s hard for us on the court,” Speights said. “Things like this happen. But we still got time to get it right before the playoffs. We’ll be all right.”
Jamal Crawford did his best Saturday night against the Bulls to help the Clippers’ reserves get back on track in a 101-91 victory.
Crawford had 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting.
But even Crawford recognized that the bench hasn’t been great.
“I think it takes time,” he said. “We’re still adjusting. But we’ll be fine.”
It helps when Speights is taking charges on defense. He did it three times against the Bulls.
“I feel like it’s a winning play,” Speights said about taking charges. “So sometimes little things like that really help some momentum of the team, get guys going. If they get beat, they know their teammate is back there to help them. That’s what it is. It’s playing hard defense.”
Speights said the play of the bench against the Bulls was encouraging.
“Yeah, we got it back going,” Speights. “Jamal got it going. We were playing good basketball. We were moving. We didn’t really care who was scoring the ball. Once we get that mentality and once we get that mind-set, we’ll get back to we really are.”
Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner
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