Dwight Howard is back at Staples Center, this time as a member of the Houston Rockets, and a lot is being made of his matchup with emerging center DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers.
But Clippers coach Doc Rivers is much more concerned with the Clippers vs. the Clippers in the season’s fourth game.
After three games, the Clippers have committed 50 turnovers, and it’s not just the amount that concerns Rivers. It’s when they occur and how they affect transition defense, and when you combine them with second-chance points, opponents are getting too many easy opportunities.
The Clippers’s coaching staff estimates the Clippers are giving up 46 points in such situations.
“If you’re giving up 46 points a game on second shots and turnovers, you can be the ’85 Bears and you’re still going to struggle defensively,” Rivers said. “It’s killing us. It’s creating awful matchups. If you can get back and get matched up to your guy, you have a chance of guarding people.
“If you’re turning the ball over and you’re creating mismatches in transition, at some point something bad’s going to happen and it’s happening.”
What hurts the most is the Clippers’ turnovers are happening on the fly.
“We’re having live turnovers. Maybe it’s just a thing right now,” Rivers said. “We don’t mind a dead-ball turnover; you can set your defense. Right now for whatever reason, in the three games most of our turnovers are live-ball turnovers, which you can’t recover from.”