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Rivers has 'great confidence' in deep roster as Clippers chase NBA title

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers believes his team are more than capable of dealing with life in the NBA bubble thanks to their strength in depth.

By Sacha Pisani
George and Leonard

Orlando, July 30: Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers believes his team are more than capable of dealing with life in the NBA bubble thanks to their strength in depth.

The NBA has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the 2019-20 season will resume on Thursday, with the Clippers meeting Western Conference rivals the Los Angeles Lakers in Orlando, Florida.

Boasting stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers are set to be without Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell against the Lakers at Walt Disney World Resort.

Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet and Ivica Zubac have also had interrupted preparations due to either excused family emergencies or COVID-19 issues.

But as the Clippers (44-20) – second behind the Lakers in the west – prepare to resume their championship bid, Rivers talked up the team's roster.

"Well, a deep roster is built for that," Rivers said on Wednesday. "And we've done that. Now, when you have five and six guys out at one time, that's asking too much on any roster.

"By the time the [seeding] games start, we won't have that many out, but we'll have maybe two to three key guys out, and that's asking a lot.

"Having said that, that doesn't stop us from believing we're going to win every game. We have great confidence."

"Guys have the virus, guys have family stuff, and so you have all of this what I call clutter in your lives, and it's part of life," Rivers said. "So we've had to deal with that.

"But adversity is not all bad. You're going to go through hard stuff, and if it's at the beginning, then let's do it now."

Leonard, who has sat out the second of back-to-back games this season due to load management after leading the Toronto Raptors to their first championship last year, is averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 2019-20.

"I knew that we had a pretty deep squad," Leonard told reporters. "I knew how talented we could be. It's about executing now."

Story first published: Thursday, July 30, 2020, 9:02 [IST]
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