Can the Clippers bounce back? And more…
The Los Angeles Clippers have never been to the NBA conference finals, despite being around for well over 30 years. On Thursday, it seemed that embarrassing factoid would be a thing of the past. Los Angeles was leading the Houston Rockets by 19 points in the third quarter at Staples Center, leading 3-2 in their best-of-7 Western Conference semis.
Then, in an oh-so-Clippers fashion, they completely fell apart. Houston roared back over the last 15 minutes, erasing the deficit and running away with a victory to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Center. The Rockets, who trailed 3-1 in this series, have all the momentum and a raucous crowd waiting for them.
Los Angeles is clearly in tough position, but can it dig its way out and win the series anyway? Coming into the matchup, many picked Houston to move on. The Rockets won the brutally competitive Southwest Division, a grouping that saw all five of its teams reach the playoffs. This was accomplished even with Dwight Howard missing ample time due to injury.
The Clippers need to have amnesia. They need to let the past two games go. While this would be a devastating way to end their season, the Clippers have to remain focused on the task at hand. Letting all the doubt creep in will be a certain way to get bounced. Los Angeles has to enjoy tunnel vision with the help of an experienced coach in Doc Rivers, a coach who has a championship under his belt.
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul need to be the best players on the court come Sunday. Both are terrific talents, but neither have enjoyed a ton of success in the postseason. Legends, and true stars, are made in the spring. Griffin and Paul would do well for their careers – especially Griffin – with a virtuoso performance with the odds stacked against them.
The Clippers have never been able to get over the proverbial hump throughout their franchise history. It’s time to make that change, or simply add to the misery.
Warriors move onto conference finals
The Golden State Warriors had not been to the conference finals since the days of Rick Barry. That changed on Friday night. For the first time since 1976, the Warriors will be one of the final four teams standing in the NBA, dispatching the Memphis Grizzlies in six games behind Stephen Curry’s 32 points.
The Warriors will be a heavy favorite to reach the Finals for only the second time since being rebranded as Golden State, regardless of facing either the Rockets or Clippers. Only having lost three games at ORACLE Arena all season, taking down the Warriors will be a herculean task.
The playoffs have been amazing so far. Nothing to indicate it will change.
