Should the Clippers change their name?

Now that the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears imminent, ESPN L.A.'s Arash Markazi penned an interesting article regarding the future of the team's name.

Whom should the Clippers target in the NBA Draft?

Who? Whom? Whatever. You get the idea. The Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs last week, and now they can set their sights on the offseason ahead. There's obviously plenty of uncertainty there, but we need not speak of Sterlings in this space today. I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for that later, anyway.

Did the Clippers get robbed in Game 5?

Doc: "We got robbed."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 14, 2014

Welp. There you have it. In short, the Clippers lost to the Thunder last night, 105-104, in a game they most certainly should have won. When you're up by seven with just over 40 seconds to go, the game should be yours. But they didn't win. And now, they're facing elimination.

There was a lot that happened. By now, you're familiar with what went down. The officials, who had been overly whistle-happy all night long, managed to botch a replay that allowed the Thunder to wrongfully keep possession, just before a questionable foul by Chris Paul on a Russell Westbrook shot resulted in three game-clinching free throws for the Thunder point guard. And there it is. Thunder win, Clippers lose, Clippers now trail the series 3-2 coming home for Game 6.

Doc is right, the Clippers did get robbed here, certainly. But they also screwed a bunch of stuff up late in that game. Jamal Crawford took a couple of "heat check" type shots that aren't okay, particularly late in a playoff game. The Clippers had a sizable lead at the time, but you can't be wasting possessions that way.

Photo Credit - Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons

The Paul turnover that resulted in the botched review call was also inexcusable, and there were several uncharacteristic plays he made down-the-stretch that helped doom L.A. CP3 actually turned the ball over five times last night, after having done so just six times in the previous four games of the series combined. 

While I'm not convinced Paul's foul on Westbrook's three-pointer was actually a foul, it's still silly of him to even come close enough to where the official could deem it as such. The fact that Westbrook was even attempting that shot was insane in and of itself, and Paul needlessly got all up on him. Odds are, Westbrook isn't hitting that shot even without Paul in the picture. Paul got bailed-out in the previous series after he nearly fouled Steph Curry on a would-be game-winning three-point attempt, and this time, he got caught.

Outside of the final minute, the Clippers played extremely well in this game. They controlled the pace, and they were able to keep the MVP of the league in-check. Durant finished with 27 points, but he shot a miserable 6-22 from the field, and was clearly frustrated. Of course, conversely, Russell Westbrook was completely unstoppable. Paul is commonly referred to as "Point God", and, as Grantland's Jason Gallagher said, Westbrook should be known as "Point Godzilla". The Clippers haven't had an answer for him all series long, and he is what kept OKC from getting their doors blown last night. Point Godzilla finished with a game-high 38 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds.

It's nice that the Clippers get to come back to STAPLES Center to play Game 6, but, as I mentioned yesterday, home court advantage really doesn't exist in this series. The Clippers nearly beat OKC for the second time at Chesapeake Energy Arena last night, while the Thunder could've easily swept the previous two games at STAPLES were it not for L.A.'s monstrous Mother's Day comeback.

Can the Clippers win tomorrow night? Of course. It's evident that these teams are extremely evenly-matched, so to count them out just because they're up against it would be beyond foolish. Given all they've had to deal with already during this playoff run, winning each of the next two games wouldn't be all that surprising.

Game 5 Preview: What can the Clippers do to slow down OKC's big guns?

The Clippers saved their season on Sunday with a maniacal fourth quarter rally, evening their second-round series at two games apiece with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Things were looking rather dire early on as the Thunder were doing whatever they wanted offensively while simultaneously stifling the Clippers' offense completely.

Paul, Clippers crush Thunder 122-105

Chris Paul emerged from the Clippers' first-round series with the Warriors physically beaten and emotionally drained. But that didn't stop him from imposing his will on the Thunder on Monday night.

Game 6 Preview: Can the Clippers oust the Warriors?

The Clippers-Warriors series has been largely overshadowed by the Donald Sterling off-the-court controversy, but one of the more highly-anticipated first-round series has, for the most part, lived up to the billing thus far.