Terance Mann, Amir Coffey serve as unlikely point guards during Clippers’ stretch run

After the Clippers emerged from final month’s commerce deadline with one conventional level guard left on their roster, coach Tyronn Lue — who performed the place himself — usually identified his dearth of ballhandling choices.

In latest weeks, nonetheless, such asides have largely disappeared from his feedback earlier than and after video games. It’s not as a result of the place has been bolstered. It’s as a result of the Clippers have grown used to a short-term plan the franchise believes is of their long-term curiosity, too.

As soon as Goran Dragic selected to signal with Brooklyn, and with no clear improve on the buyout market and no urge to take an prolonged take a look at a youthful guard, the Clippers have deemed their best choice lies in placing the ball within the arms of wings equivalent to Terance Mann and Amir Coffey.

At no level for the reason that Feb. 10 deadline was that call extra apparent than Monday in Cleveland, when throughout a 120-111 time beyond regulation loss, Mann and Coffey have been amongst a rotating solid of ballhandlers left to pilot the offense with level guard Reggie Jackson incomes an evening off.

With ahead Marcus Morris Sr. resting as nicely, and not an apparent vacation spot for every play to finish, the ball skipped round for 29 assists, the Clippers’ most in six video games, and simply 11 turnovers.

In 44 minutes, Mann completed with 4 assists and 0 turnovers and he pushed the Clippers’ tempo even whereas lacking his first eight pictures. Coffey had two assists and 0 turnovers in 39 minutes regardless of dealing with strain.

Lue’s overarching purpose within the common season’s ultimate three weeks is to arrange his group for the play-in match, given the Clippers are virtually assuredly certain to complete eighth within the Western Convention. For older contributors with heavier workloads, that may imply extra relaxation. For the others it’s going to imply extra reps, and the prevailing thought guiding the group’s post-deadline roster building is that there’s extra worth for the Clippers — each this season and subsequent — to develop wings equivalent to Mann and Coffey whose talent units have broadened sufficient to provoke Lue’s offense.

Final season, Mann was the ball handler in decide and rolls on 78 possessions, producing 0.91 factors per possession, and Coffey did it on 20 possessions that produced 0.9 factors every time. This yr their pick-and-roll ball handler workload has spiked: 114 possessions for Mann, for a median of 0.96 factors, and 66 possessions for Coffey, at a clip of 0.939 factors, in keeping with Synergy Sports activities.

The transition has not been seamless, as was evidenced in opposition to the Cavaliers.

“It was simply onerous for us on the level of assault for decide and rolls,” Lue mentioned. “I assumed when Amir dealt with they pressured him, when T-Mann, they pressed him slightly bit, went below slightly bit, so it form of killed our triggers. However for essentially the most half, I assumed they dealt with it fairly nicely, you realize? Simply enjoying, making the appropriate go, making the appropriate play.”

With out Jackson, the offense required operating “numerous stuff that we don’t get to go over as a result of we don’t have our regular group,” Mann mentioned. “It was lots completely different, lots completely different seems of men and stuff like that we don’t usually get. It was nonetheless cool.”

Since backup guard Eric Bledsoe was traded to Portland on Feb. 4, Mann has averaged 37.8 passes per recreation, 10 greater than he’d averaged this season to that time. He has elevated his assists by a couple of per recreation and the change in workload is mirrored in a utilization price enhance of two proportion factors, to 17.1%.

Coffey’s will increase aren’t as dramatic however his utilization price has elevated by three proportion factors, additionally utilizing 17.1% of the Clippers’ possessions.

Their ballhandling duty doesn’t determine to be as vital to shoulder upon the returns of the injured offensive headliners Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Norman Powell, whether or not all or any come again this spring or subsequent fall. However group president Lawrence Frank has mentioned that groups can by no means have sufficient wings — actually not these versatile sufficient to protect a number of positions and perform a number of roles offensively.

It’s one motive why, despite the fact that extra alternatives for resting Jackson stay in the course of the Clippers’ ultimate 11 video games, no deal to signal a free-agent level guard as ballhandling insurance coverage is considered as imminent, and Mann mentioned he would do no matter job Lue asks of him. (The Clippers have the utmost 15 gamers and thus would want to waive a participant to create a roster spot.)

Ever for the reason that Clippers acquired George and Leonard in 2020, essentially the most persistent query surrounding their offense is how a lot, or whether or not in any respect, they want an extra ballhandler to alleviate a few of that workload from the group’s wings. They added Jackson in 2020 off the buyout market however he factored little into their postseason. In 2021, they traded Lou Williams for Rajon Rondo, and Frank envisioned the veteran “orchestrator” smoothing out the offense’s tough edges, just for his function to fizzle amid a conference-title run.

The group’s February determination to face pat with their backcourt on the commerce deadline and never chunk within the buyout market, too, was a marked change. If a sure-fire participant wasn’t obtainable, the Clippers weren’t prepared to remove reps now from wings whose development might assist the group later.

“We obtained some guys who can fill that function, who’ve performed it earlier than or performed with the ball, so that they know how you can fill of their function and I believe they did a stable job tonight,” heart Ivica Zubac mentioned. “What number of assists? Twenty-nine. Everybody was transferring the ball, making the appropriate performs, and we missed some beauty, however total I believe the blokes did a fairly good job filling in for that spot.”

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Replace: Of their final residence recreation till March 25, the Clippers (36-35) face one of many league’s streakiest groups. Since late January the Raptors (38-30) gained eight in a row, then misplaced 4 of their subsequent 5 earlier than shedding two, successful two, shedding three, solely to comply with with their present four-game successful streak. Pascal Siakam is again to the shape that made him an all-star two seasons in the past whereas averaging a career-high 8.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists together with 21.8 factors.