If the playoffs began today (which they don't, so this almost surely means absolutely nothing), the L.A. Clippers would find themselves in a 4-5 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers. Because Portland has won their division, they'd technically be the No. 4 seed despite having a worse record than LAC. Fortunately, the Clips would still have home court advantage, making the "division champion" distinction exceedingly useless and stupid.
However, as of Thursday evening, the Clippers sit just a half-game behind the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets, who currently sit second and third in the West, respectively. With three games left, there's absolutely still a chance the Clippers could find themselves with the second overall seed in the West for the playoffs, which could be huge.
But, should they really be striving for that? I would imagine the primary goal for any team not named the Warriors (who have already clinched the No. 1 seed) would be avoiding the San Antonio Spurs in round one at all costs. The Spurs are in the No. 6 spot, but own the same record as L.A. While the Clips have been on a roll, the defending champs have been on an absolute blitzkrieg of late, and are looking as dangerous as any team in the league. The Clippers finding themselves in a first-round matchup with San Antonio would mean almost certain first-round disappointment.
LAC's remaining schedule looks like this: vs. MEM, vs. DEN, at PHX. San Antonio has three games remaining: at HOU, vs. PHX, at NO. Without question, the Spurs have the tougher remaining group of games, but they're also obviously capable of winning every single one of them.
While the Clips have enjoyed good success against the Spurs this year (the teams split the four-game regular season series), San Antonio has a way of turning things on once the playoffs hit. The Clippers experienced this first-hand just three years ago when they were easily swept out of the second round by the Spurs.
So, should the Clippers do anything and everything they can to avoid this scenario? While they surely won't express such a weak mindset publicly, I don't think there's any doubt this is what they should be doing. Any matchup will be tough in the West, but obviously I'd prefer to see an injury-weakened bunch like Portland, or a less-scary team like Dallas in round one.
While getting Jamal Crawford back from his calf injury will be a big boost, the team's relative lack of depth at other positions is their most likely area of weakness and would surely be exposed against a team that runs 10-deep the way the Spurs do. While they may be able to hold up for two or three games, that kind of things wears on you during a long series. The Clippers' best hopes of winning a potential matchup with San Antonio would be for it to be a round or two later, when the rather elderly Spurs may be a bit more fatigued than they will be for the first round.
If I were to rank potential first-round opponents in order of preference for the Clips, I'd rank them: Dallas, Portland, Houston, Memphis, San Antonio.
The Clippers won two of the three meetings with the Mavericks this season, and Dallas has been playing worse than any of the other top-seven teams over the last several months. LAC is also the only team in the league to go into Portland and win twice this year, which bodes well for a potential matchup.
The Rockets and Clippers split the season series at two games apiece, but L.A. does have a good recent history of success against Houston. Memphis is another team that's been in a bit of a slump of late, but we know there's plenty of history here. A first-round showdown with the Grizz would be a brutal, bruising battle. The Clips can even the season series with a win over the Grizzlies on Saturday.
So, while there are teams we'd obviously prefer the Clippers avoid in a potential playoff series, the same can be said about some teams wanting nothing to do with the Clippers. The Spurs are not one of them. Avoid the Spurs at all costs, LA.
No comments:
Post a Comment