Clippers go back to the basics on defense in their four-game winning streak

It began with a lock-down second half against Phoenix on Jan. 2, when the Clippers held the Suns to 40 points on 15-for-52 shooting (28.8%), and it continued through Sunday’s decisive victory over Miami.

The Clippers defense has tightened considerably since allowing an average of 110.5 points during a year-end, six-game losing streak, holding opponents to an average of 96.5 points in the first four games of 2017, all victories.

The Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and Heat combined to shoot 39.9% overall (144 of 361) and 29% from three-point range (29.0%) in those games. No NBA team has held opponents to lower percentages since Jan. 1.

Coach Doc Rivers credits a simpler approach — namely, less switching — as the primary reason for the team’s defensive efficiency.

“I think we started to get too smart, and we went back to our basic defense. One of the things I instructed Brendan [O’Connor, assistant coach] is we’re not going to trick it up anymore. When we lost Blake [Griffin on Dec. 20] we started trying to be too clever,” Rivers said.

“We were switching too much. We started out switching one-two, then all of a sudden it was one-two-three, then it was one-two-three-four. We had one game where all five guys were switching on some of the things. It was just too much.”

The Clippers made a number of strong defensive plays Sunday, Raymond Felton stealing the ball from Goran Dragic and driving for an uncontested layup in the second quarter, and DeAndre Jordan blocking a Dragic shot and preventing the ball from going out of bounds with a pass to start a fastbreak that resulted in a J.J. Redick three-point basket in the third.

Felton, a 6-foot-1 guard, boxed out Hassan Whiteside, Miami’s 7-foot center, for a rebound in the fourth quarter, and Marreese Speights knocked the ball away from Whiteside, dived on the court for the loose ball and tied up Whiteside for a jump ball in the fourth.

“I always go back to the great Don Shula,” Rivers said, referring to the former NFL coach. “He used to say, ‘The more you think, the less you play hard because you’re thinking.’ We were switching things. Heck, I didn’t even know what we were doing at times, so really, it was confusing me.

“We were doing so much stuff defensively … so we simplified things, and everybody is playing at the same pace. They know exactly what we’re doing. It allows for less thought, more athleticism, and I think that’s been good for us.”

The Clippers limited the Heat to 12 fastbreak points, a marked improvement over a seven-game stretch from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, when they were outscored, 159-50, in transition.

“We’re trying to emphasize getting back and limiting teams to one shot,” Jordan said. “We’re making it tough, being physical, not letting guys catch it where they want to catch it, where they’re connecting the dots on offense. At the end of the day, it’s coming down with a rebound and not giving up transition points.”

Lucky break

DeMarcus Cousins brought his full weight to bear on Redick on Friday night when the Sacramento center, all 6-11 and 270 pounds of him, bit on Redick’s pump fake from three-point range and collided with the 6-4, 190-pound Clippers guard, knocking Redick to the court.

Redick survived this collision with Cousins, but he wasn’t so fortunate in November 2013, when Redick suffered a broken right hand in a collision with Cousins and sat out 21 games in December and January 2014.

Redick harbors no ill will toward Cousins, though. While he was away from the team, Redick’s wife, Chelsea, got pregnant with the couple’s first child, Knox, who is now 2 1/2 years old.

“I joke with [Cousins] all the time that we debated naming Knox ‘DeMarcus’ or some variation of that, because he was partially responsible for Knox being born,” Redick said. “I didn’t travel with the team, so we had a lot of time on our hands.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna