It seemed like the right decision at the time, Doc Rivers leaving Boston to coach the Clippers, with the Celtics imploding their roster and rebuilding.
Rivers wanted to keep competing for NBA championships and believed he was the coach capable of leading the dysfunctional Clippers to success.
It not only hasn’t worked out that way, but at the same time Rivers’s former team was running off 16 consecutive wins with its wunderkind coach and sparkling new point guard, the Clippers were losing nine consecutive games with their highly paid but injured and underachieving roster.
The Clippers snapped that skid with a win Wednesday over the Hawks, but the state of the organization is tenuous, with Rivers already having been relieved of his general manager duties before the season.
The Clippers then went out and signed oft-injured Danilo Gallinari, and he already has missed eight games with a strained glute. The Clippers traded Chris Paul to the Rockets and were hoping Patrick Beverley would provide defensive prowess and toughness, and he now will miss the rest of the season because of microfracture knee surgery.
The Clippers nabbed Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic from the Euroleague, hoping he would provide the ball distribution lost in the Paul trade, and he suffered a tear of his plantar fascia in his second game and is out indefinitely.
So, the Clippers have been besieged by injuries, but they also made the decision to build around Blake Griffin, who signed a five-year extension in the offseason, and the parts gathered from the Paul trade. Griffin may no longer be a top-10 player in the league, and he’s shooting just 42 percent from the field.
Lou Williams has been his normal self off the bench and is the team’s No. 2 scorer. DeAndre Jordan has been solid and has finally improved his free throw shooting. But the Clippers were relying on Austin Rivers (37 percent shooting), and he remains wildly inconsistent.
Two other players acquired from Houston in addition to Beverley — Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell — who the Clippers thought would flourish with a new opportunity, have been relegated to little-used reserves.
So, the Clippers are just a bunch of guys with little cohesion, with a coach whose message and style may be wearing thin. Rivers has always been a good coach, but he came to Los Angeles at the same time as the resurrection of the Warriors, and the Clippers have never been able to compete with their rivals to the north.
The Warriors’ championship runs affected how the Clippers viewed themselves, and eventually their Big Three of Paul, Griffin, and Jordan was broken up because of ineffectiveness. Paul wanted out and the Clippers accommodated him, instead choosing to re-sign Griffin to a contract that will pay him $39 million in its final season.
Jordan nearly left the Clippers two years ago for the Mavericks, before signing a four-year extension to remain in LA. He has an opt-out clause after this season and the Clippers may want to entertain the possibility of moving him. But that would likely mean the organization is abandoning its plan of trying to remain competitive in the West and trying to get as many assets for Jordan, a dominant defensive center in his prime.
Rivers’s future is cloudy. Team owner Steve Ballmer handed the GM duties to former Rivers assistant Lawrence Frank, but Frank’s offseason moves have been a failure so far.
The Western Conference is so competitive that nine-game losing streaks, even early in the season, could doom a team.
The last thing Ballmer should want is a team with three players earning more than $20 million per season heading to the draft lottery.
Rivers is in his fifth season as coach and the Clippers have battled complacency and inconsistency since he arrived. They have had flashes of brilliance, but also played to the level of some lesser opponents. They lost by a combined 37 points to the Hornets and Knicks, and Rivers’s status has been become more tenuous with every loss.
The question for Ballmer is whether firing Rivers would make any real difference. Injuries have played a major part in the Clippers’ demise this season, but again, the organization put faith in Gallinari, who has not played more than 71 games in a season since 2009-10.
The point guard position is a concern because of the loss of Beverley for the season and Teodosic’s uncertain status. What’s more, Griffin is the team leader in assists with 5 per game, and it’s not even close. Griffin can’t be depended on to score and distribute, and while Rivers would love to give his son Austin the point guard duties, he’s never shown the ability to run a team without committing turnovers.
The team is likely to stand pat with Rivers for now. But Frank may have to inquire about interest in Jordan and other players on his roster. The Clippers were built to win now — as they have been since Rivers arrived — but if they are being buried in the West and the idea of making Griffin the face of the franchise turns sour, it may be time for change in Los Angeles.
As much as Rivers’s affable style has kept him among the more respected coaches in the NBA, his tenure in LA has not generated success. Meanwhile, the Celtics are coming off a 16-game winning streak with their rebuilt roster.
That doesn’t reflect unfavorably on anything Rivers accomplished in Boston, but it makes you consider whether he made the right decision to bolt for California.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Defense doesn’t define Raptors
The Raptors refrained from making any major offseason acquisitions and instead decided to re-sign Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. The results have been mixed.
Toronto is off to an 11-6 start, but lost Wednesday to the Knicks when they yielded 41 third-quarter points, including a 28-0 run.
Under coach Dwane Casey, the Raptors have prided themselves on being a defense-first team, with the ability to score with Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Casey hasn’t been pleased with the defense this season, and the question in Toronto is whether the franchise has enough for a long playoff run.
The Raptors have been spanked in the playoffs by the Cavaliers the past few years. This current crew is quite similar to the one that was swept by Cleveland last May, other than the addition of C.J. Miles.
“We’ve played up and down,’’ Casey said. “For whatever reason, trying to find our offensive rhythm is no excuse. But I do know not having our rhythm offensively has hurt our defense, our transition defense. We’ve got to get back to who we are. All of last year we were top five in transition defense, and this year we’re in the bottom. There’s got to be a reason for it. The philosophy is the same. We’ve got to get back to consistency.’’
What is the issue with the defense?
“I can’t tell you, but there’s a lot of things we see that we’re not doing and we’ve got to get better,’’ Casey said. “It’s up to us to get them to do better and keep the foot on the pedal. You’ve got to want to take those first three steps [back on defense], and second, you’ve got to talk and you’ve got to communicate on transition. All those things, no matter what happens on the offensive end, missed shots, shot selection, we’ve got to figure that out and get those first three steps right away.’’
The key, Casey said, is improved communication.
“My whole thing is say something, ‘left, right, elbow, block,’ say something,’’ the coach said. “That usually cures a lot of problems when you say something. You can tell a guy at the free throw line, ‘I got your help left or right or whatever.’ It’s just saying something, but today guys don’t say very much because they are not sure. A lot of it is the day of texting and e-mailing and Instagram and all that, those guys don’t talk as much anymore. Communication is huge. Talk, that cures a lot of problems.’’
Casey also tweaked the Raptors’ offense by emphasizing more 3-point attempts. They were 22nd in the NBA last season with 24.3 attempts per game. They are fourth this season at 31.8 per game.
“We were in the top five offensively with what we were doing, but again it didn’t get us very far against Cleveland,’’ Casey said. “We have to look at something [different]. You have to keep up with the changes in the NBA to be able to play against it and also to play with it. We’re doing a little bit of both.’’
ETC.
Inconsistent Heat get back to basics
Before this season, the Heat were the vogue pick to become a power in the Eastern Conference because of a 30-11 finish last season that brought them within one game of the playoffs. While their victory over the Celtics, which snapped Boston’s 16-game winning streak, was impressive, it’s been an overall disappointing start for Miami.
The Heat began the season 8-9, including a 25-point home loss to Indiana and a 4-5 home record. After that loss to the Pacers, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went back to the basics and put his team through grueling practice sessions for two days, and the result was an improved effort against the Celtics.
But it seems this team understands it hasn’t met expectations and there is a sense of urgency as the Eastern Conference is more competitive than expected.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the [playing] rotations, it simply has to be about creating better habits, better focus in all the areas of behavior before you even get to production,’’ Spoelstra said. “That’s just the way it’s got to be with this group. We have to be diligent with every single step in the process. That’s all the little things that add up to the big things, attention to detail.
“There’s times in games where [I see] that’s where we’re trying to get to. And then boom, we have the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s about habits and behavior right now. We’re firmly rooted in process right now and then we’ll see what kind of result that may happen from that. It’s all these little steps we have to correct first, hopefully to find a little more consistently and reliability.’’
The Heat lack a prolific scorer, so they have to rely on several players to deliver offensively. And when they don’t, Miami struggles. The Heat have been a disappointment, while injuries to Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside have contributed to their struggles.
“We just have to keep our locker room right,’’ forward James Johnson said. “As long as we have mental stability [we’re fine]. There’s bumps and bruises. We’re not the only team in the league blowing big leads. We’ve got to keep focusing on us and keep trending in the right direction and not veer off that trying to go rogue and trying to get it done by yourself. The team needs everybody.’’
Said point guard Goran Dragic: “Our defense hasn’t been on the same page. It’s too many breakdowns, easy layups and shots. And then it kind of goes to the other end, the offense. We’re not focused enough. The ball is not circling around and that kind of messes things up a little bit. We need to have both sides of the court with stability.’’
Layups
There are some former NBA standout players and first-round picks attempting to resurrect their careers in the Chinese Basketball Association. Ex-Celtic Jared Sullinger is averaging 34 points and 15.6 rebounds with the Shenzhen Leopards, and he is joined in the CBA by former NBA players such as MarShon Brooks, Russ Smith, Jimmer Fredette, Jamaal Franklin, Brandon Jennings, Luis Scola, J.J. Hickson, and Ty Lawson. Ex-Celtic Brandon Bass, at age 32, signed with the Liaoning Flying Leopards and is averaging 21.3 points and 8.2 rebounds. Andrew Nicholson, Terrence Jones, and Justin Hamilton are also playing in the CBA. The CBA season ends in March, making many of those players eligible to join NBA teams at that time. The Celtics still own their disabled player exception for $8.4 million (for the loss of Gordon Hayward) and can use that contract on any free agent before March 10 . . . While Joakim Noah has served his 20-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs and is eligible to play, the Knicks appear to have no interest in playing him. Noah has been inactive since he was cleared to play on Nov. 13, and he did not make the team’s road trip to Atlanta and Houston because of illness. Noah is in the second year of a four-year, $72 million deal that was procured by Phil Jackson. The Knicks are moving forward with their young big men and seemingly have no future plans for Noah . . . The banged-up Raptors received a break when backup point guard Delon Wright avoided shoulder surgery and will be out only a month after a separation on Nov. 15 in a game against the Pelicans. The emergence of Wright was the reason the Raptors traded valuable point guard Cory Joseph to the Pacers for C.J. Miles. Wright, who played just 54 games in his first two NBA seasons, was averaging 7.6 points and 2.6 assists in 21 minutes per game for Toronto. Former Wichita State standout Fred VanVleet has taken over as the primary backup to Kyle Lowry . . . A look at the Celtics’ G-League affiliate in Maine shows Jabari Bird averaging 25.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in the first four games. The Celtics have high hopes for Bird, especially because of his defensive prowess and versatility. Fellow second-round pick Kadeem Allen is averaging 15 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He was more known for his defense at the University of Arizona and the Celtics want to develop him as a point guard. Former UMass standout Trey Davis is averaging 20.8 points as the Red Claws are off to a 4-2 start.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GwashburnGlobe. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
