One of Clippers coach Doc Rivers' favorite adages is the NBA is a "make-or-miss league."
Essentially, Rivers is stating the obvious: You either make your shots or you don't, and if you don't, you're probably going to lose. It's an oversimplification, sure, but it has been oddly symmetrical with the Clippers' success this season -- especially from deep.
Monday night the Clippers made 15 of 34 3-pointers (44.1 percent), and rode their 51.3 percent overall shooting to a 127-101 blowout victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The surging Clips (12-5) have now won five games in a row, in large part because, well, they started making shots.
"In previous games, we were missing open shots," Rivers said. "Now we are making open shots. Once you start making open shots the defense has to react to that. That allows other things to happen in the offense."
When the Clippers have made nine or more 3-pointers this season, they are an impressive 10-1. When they make any fewer than that, they are a pedestrian 2-4.
There are a slew of factors that go into those numbers -- the quality of opponent's defense, for one -- but the deciding factor has often been J.J. Redick's performance. When Redick makes three or more 3-pointers, the Clippers are 4-1. When he shoots better than 40 percent from beyond the arc, the Clips are 7-2.
But his shooting symbolizes something more.
"When J.J. is getting shots, it means we are getting good ball movement," Rivers said. "When he is not getting shots, it means that we are not moving the ball around. ... J.J. is dependent on ball movement."
Redick finished with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting (4 of 5 on 3s) against the Wolves. His off-ball movement -- "an offense unto itself," as Rivers has called it -- is paramount to keeping defenses honest and preventing them from solely focusing their attention on Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
The key, of course, is for him to keep making more than he misses.
Here are five takeaways from Monday's game:
Nice day for a red wedding
This was a bloodbath. After the midway point of the second quarter, the Clippers took control of the game, bludgeoned the Wolves and led by as many as 37 points. Rivers said before the game that he's always nervous about the first game back from a long road trip, but that couldn't have been further from the case. The Clips' defense started slow, allowing Minnesota wings to score off back-cuts and post-ups early on, but that didn't last long, and L.A. properly adjusted it's D to account for Minnesota's lack of outside shooting.
Griffin matters, too
Want to know another decisive factor in Clippers wins? Blake Griffin's point total. When Griffin scores 20 or more points, the Clips are 10-1. When he doesn't the Clips are just 2-4, including all three of the team's double-digit losses. Griffin had 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting Monday, and the team won to no surprise. Paul (12 points, 8 assists) and DeAndre Jordan (11 points, 13 rebounds) have surprisingly had less variance this season, and there is obviously more context here -- Griffin has obviously struggled against better defenses, and may have broken the 20-point threshold in certain losses if the score was closer.
The bench's identity
Though the Clippers have one of the deepest benches in the league, their second unit can be a bit too reliant on Jamal Crawford to create offensively. Lately, though, the reserves have figured out their offensive identity, relying on crisp ball movement and spacing to create open 3-pointers and other good looks off closeouts. It has worked to mixed results, but this is a case where the process is more important the results. If the bench can polish its system, the Clippers' offense will be that much more dangerous later in the season.
Biebs, Gronk and the Pats, oh my! Stars collide in Clippers locker room
Room for improvement
Despite the thrashing, Rivers & Co. are always looking to get better, and tonight is no exception. The Clippers' defense in the first and fourth quarters was atrocious -- they allowed 77 combined points, which is insane. They also sent the Wolves to the charity stripe far too often (40 free-throw attempts), and gave up too many points in the paint (48) and off second-chance opportunities (15). That works against the Minnesotas of the NBA, but the Clips will need to continue fine-tuning their shaky defense.
Celebrity after party
This game became such a bore in the second half that the biggest takeaway will be that Justin Bieber and Rob Gronkowski were in the Clippers locker room post-game, hanging out and taking pictures with Griffin, Paul, Jordan and Crawford. It was quite the scene.
