Los Angeles Clippers Stat Monkey Brief: Clippers/Bulls (11/17/12)

The Season Thus Far

The LA Clippers are off to a solid 6-2 start while sporting the fifth overall offense and ninth overall defense in terms of efficiency, using our numberFire metrics. The interesting part is that they have been beating the upper echelon teams (Memphis, San Antonio, and Miami) and losing to the lower tier teams (Cleveland and Golden State). As long as they keep doing things like this though, it should be a fun season to watch:

Tonight’s Game

Tonight the Clippers take on the Bulls who, despite not having Rose, are 5-3 and have the seventh most efficient defense, only giving up 92.4 points a game. The Bulls defense, however, might not matter since the Clippers have been able to score over 100 points in seven of their eight games this season. This includes the Grizzlies, who have the sixth most efficient defense.

The only team that has slowed down the Clippers is the Hawks, but the Clippers attempted only eight free throws in that game, 16 below their season average. Defensively the Clippers should not struggle much, mostly because the Bulls don’t have Rose and no one else on that team can create shots for themselves on a consistent basis, especially with DeAndre and Griffin guarding the paint.

Prediction
Clippers 102 – Bulls 93

Quick Look Ahead

After tonight’s game, the Clippers go on a four game road trip that takes them to the East Coast for two of those games. During the trip they will face three top 10 offenses (Spurs, Thunder, & Nets) and one top 10 defense (Thunder). The Wednesday night tilt against the Thunder is the game that everyone is looking forward to, and it should have at least a couple of top 10 plays.