Clippers Coach Doc Rivers wants better defense from second unit

The Clippers can be nearly 100% certain about most things heading into their season opener against the Trailblazers on Thursday night.

Chris Paul, barring any injuries, will be one of the league’s best floor generals. Blake Griffin, barring any injuries, will be one of the league’s best scoring forwards. DeAndre Jordan will be a top-flight rim protector. J.J. Redick will, more often than not, knock down his shots.

This is what the Clippers have come to rely on since Paul joined the franchise in 2011. So once again, shifting variables are few and far between heading into a season that should see the Clippers competing atop the Western conference. Those variables are, at the moment, who will start at small forward and what can the Clippers expect from their second unit?

Clippers Coach Doc Rivers isn’t all that interested in addressing the former, at least until he has to send in his lineup ahead of the 7:30 p.m. tip in Portland. The latter, however, remains a point of intrigue for the veteran squad.

“To be honest with you, I am,” said Jamal Crawford, before Wednesday’s practice, when asked if he’s excited to see what the second unit can do. “Every year we’re tweaking it a little bit and changing it a little bit. Very curious.

“I like the group we have, for sure, we have a lot of capable veterans, guys in the right state of mind, guys in the right place at the right time, so I’m excited about it.”

Crawford has won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award three times in the last seven seasons, making him the incumbent leader of the Clippers’ bench lineup. The group also returns guard Austin Rivers and small forward Wesley Johnson, who could potentially start in that spot. It welcomes three veterans in point guard Raymond Felton and floor-spacing forwards Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights.

Doc Rivers liked the offensive production of his second unit last season, but thought its defense could improve. The Clippers’ lineups were jumbled due do to Griffin playing just 35 games, but the team’s most-used reserve unit did greatly struggle on the defensive end.

That lineup consisted of Austin Rivers, Pablo Prigioni (who was recently waived by the Rockets), Crawford, Johnson and center Cole Aldrich (who is now with the Timberwolves). They finished the season with a defensive rating — which measures points given up per 100 possessions — of 108.6. That was the highest of the seven Clippers lineups that played 100 or more minutes together. None of the other six lineups had a defensive rating higher than 99.

So can this year’s reserve unit, which will plug Felton in at point guard and have two new bigs, improve on that end?

“I’ll let you know. The jury is out,” Doc Rivers said on Wednesday. “I do think we added some toughness with Alan [Anderson], when he’s healthy, with [Felton]. You already have [Austin Rivers] with that group, [Bass]…those are four really good defenders. [Speights] and [Crawford] are up and down.”

“Yeah, I think it’s equipped to be better,” the coach continued. “Now, we have to be better.”

That starts against the Trailblazers (1-0), a team that lights up the scoreboard with two dynamic guards and a host of shooters. The Clippers rotations could be different this year, as Doc Rivers staggered Paul and Griffin’s minutes during the preseason and has talked about running Austin Rivers with the first group.

Either way, the second unit has to support the Clippers’ high-powered offense by tightening up its defense. There are new faces in the mix, and time will tell if that will yield more encouraging results.

“I think there will be moments where we’re really good and there will be moments where we struggle, to be honest with you,” Crawford said. “That’s just the part of the season, and that’s with the [starters] or anybody on any team. But for us, especially with the new guys, it usually takes a little while.”

jesse.dougherty@latimes.com

Twitter: @dougherty_jesse