The Los Angeles Clippers, despite all of their postseason faults, have been one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the NBA since Chris Paul joined them in late 2011. Even without having Blake Griffin for the majority of the season in 2015-16, the Clippers still finished sixth in the NBA in offensive rating and that was in the same year in which they became one of the best defensive teams in the NBA (tied for fourth). But that doesn't mean the Clippers don't believe they should be better offensively.
In fact, they also want to be quicker offensively than they were last season. Their offensive success was great, but they feel they didn't put enough pressure on opposing defenses. This season, Doc Rivers wants Paul and company to get the ball across half court much quicker than they have been and get much more ball movement into their sets. With their weapons and a commitment to doing this, they could rival the Golden State Warriors as the best offense in the league. From Dan Woike of the Orange County Register:
Rivers said the Clippers are trying to get the ball into the offensive end faster (they were second-slowest a year ago), and they're trying to add even more motion to their offense.
"To think that we were seventh in the league in scoring and one of the last to get it across halfcourt," Rivers said. "We were playing with a low clock every single time down the floor. That doesn't mean you have to play at a better pace - just start the offense sooner. The year before, we did that and we were No. 1 on offense. We have to get back to do that.
"... We just have to trust the pass more, overall, as a whole group. And, we can't stand as much. We do move the ball, but we don't move bodies. We have to move both."
If you've watched even one Clippers game in the past five years, you've definitely see the inbounder roll the ball up the court and Paul act like the Secret Service letting the ball get as far as possible without touching it while making sure the defender doesn't get to it either. It's called "walking the dog" and CP3 does it more than any player in the NBA. It allows the Clippers to save on the shot clock and maximize a possession, but it also keeps them from getting right into their offense. The defense has every opportunity in the world to set against his team in the half court.
The Clippers speeding things up and having Griffin return to the lineup at full strength should make them one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. In Paul's first two years with the Clippers, they finished fourth both seasons in offensive rating. From 2013-15, the Clippers finished as the best offensive team in the NBA both of those seasons, even better than the Warriors. Regardless of what they do in the postseason, this team will be a monster offensively. But if they don't make it to at least the conference finals this season, it'll still feel like an empty accomplishment for them in the regular season.
