Clips Three-Point Shooting Carrying the Load

On Friday I discussed how Blake Griffin's individual turnaround has sparked the Clippers' recent surge (despite having lost both games since), but obviously he's not the only player deserving of credit. L.A. has also gotten a tremendous boost from its role players, most notably J.J. Redick.

Redick was one of a slew of Clips that got off to a ragged start this season, but recently he's been playing his best basketball since joining the team in the summer of 2013. The fact that he's also been healthy for an extended period of time probably helps, but his confidence seems as high as it's ever been.

For Griffin, we used November 17th's loss at home to the Bulls as the benchmark, because the subsequent road trip is when the team started really playing well. So, we'll look at Redick's numbers on either side of that date, starting with his shot chart from Oct. 29-Nov. 17.

J.J.'s out there to be a three-point bomber, and everyone knows it. During the early part of the season, though, he wasn't hitting anything. The majority of his attempts came from the left wing three, and he was hitting an abysmal 24% of them, as you can see. His field goal percentage during this stretch was a paltry 38%, and just over 30% from deep. This was obviously not going to last, though, given that he's a career 39% shooter from beyond-the-arc.

As mentioned in the last piece, the Clips were 5-4 during this nine-game stretch. Now, fast forward through the last 14 games:

Clearly, J.J. has found the stroke, particularly from his favorite spot on the left wing. He's made 40 of his last 84 attempts from deep (over 47%) and his only "weak" zone is on the right wing, where he's still been hitting a passable amount. 

Let's look at a couple other players the Clippers rely upon to contribute from deep in Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes. Crawford shot 32.7% from three-point land through the first nine games, but is up to 37.5% over the last 14. Barnes was at 32.9% through the first nine, and is up to 43.1% over the last 14. 

On the season, the Clippers now rank as the league's second-best three-point shooting team, trailing only Washington. LAC is shooting 38.3% from deep, though they've risen rapidly over the last

month. Through the first nine games, the Clips ranked 17th in the league in this department at just over 34%. In the last 14 games, they're up to 40.7%, which is third behind red-hot Washington and San Antonio.

Given the number of capable shooters in the rotation, progression to the mean was almost inevitable for the Clippers, and it's another reason they're back in the mix for Western Conference contention.