What's up with the Clippers defense?

The storylines for Clippers-Mavericks have been star-laden and engrossing. Luka Doncic is lighting the world on fire. Paul George can’t hit a ball off a tee. Kawhi is a cyborg. Kristaps is humongous and hobbled. Trey Burke and Seth Curry have gone bananas.

Two of those players are not like the others.

Trey Burke and Seth Curry have both played the best basketball of their nomadic careers. Combined, they’re putting up 30 points a night on 62% from the field and 54% from deep. They’ve contributed 9 steals, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists over the split four games.

This is where the heavily-favored Clippers miss Patrick Beverley. His strained left calf has allowed him just 3 full games in the restart. His absence hamstrings the Clippers entire defense.

The Clippers point guards are currently a one-man group: Reggie Jackson. He can’t hang. The 30 year old has been bad, and unable to contain a fly in a jar, let alone Burke and Curry. While shooting a gravity-warranting 9-17 from three, he still manages just 7.8 points to show for his 6.8 field goal attempts. He has not been to the free throw line in 88 minutes.

A two-time All-Defense selection, Beverley is vocal, tireless, does the little things, is a good team defender, and sets the tone for the defense. He usually matches up with the opposing team’s best guard and gives them as many fits as possible. This helps hide the other guard on an easier matchup. He’s too small to stop Luka, but he is the key to doing so.

Most of Luka’s scoring comes from finishing around the rim and his ability to create himself open looks or layups. His all-world passing and vision make you pay if you try and load up on him. He dishes to Burke and Curry, who are capable handling the ball and making extra passes, as well as legit scorer Tim Hardaway, Jr. - himself having a huge series.

Usually you live with that. An all-time coaching refrain in the playoffs is that you have to make someone else [other than the star player] beat you. The Mavericks’ someone elses are beating the Clippers.

Without Beverley, the Clippers have not been able to handle these three someone elses, let alone Kristaps Porzingis, who has been hobbled/ejected a good amount of the series.

When you have to respect the someone elses - and you have to a lot based on the first four games - it means you can do less with Luka. You can no longer make the focal point of your defense containing him because that doesn’t stop the Mavericks offense.

It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that has made the Clippers look like the worse team for a lot of this series. The better the role guys do, the more free reign you give to Luka and his sorcery. The more Luka kills you, the more attention you throw at him, and suddenly the role guys are exposing Reggie Jackson, Landry Shamet, and Lou “very bad at defense” Williams again.

If/when the Clippers get Beverley back, it neutralizes a good portion of that equation. Less of that trio is always a good thing for your defense.

Beverley clamping one of the someone elses makes life a lot easier all the way up the row:

Coach Doc Rivers can count on two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, Defensive Player of the Year finalist Paul George, and powerful defender Marcus Morris to do more on Luka and the other someone elses when they’re not also trying to compensate for bad mismatches.

Less Jackson mixed with more Beverley makes Lou Williams’ offense more valuable because you don’t have to worry as much about his defense.

It compensates for Montrezl Harrell’s poor and undersized rim protection because it keeps the ball in front of the defense more, challenging Harrell less. Harrell’s offense, although he’s struggled with Boban Marjanovic, can be extremely timely.

Beverley’s absence is not entirely to blame nor the savior. Kawhi, PG, and Morris all have to be better. The Clippers have the best roster in the NBA. That roster’s biggest strength is perimeter defense. They are getting embarrassed on defense by a perimeter offense. The three healthy ones have to do more.

Right now, the Mavericks have five players doing unbelievable scoring. Luka, Kristaps, Hardaway, Burke, and Curry are currently combining for 104.5 points per game on 53% shooting and 45% from three. That’s impossible to win a series against.