The Clippers Are Making It Blatantly Obvious They Want No Part Of LeBron James In The Playoffs
Andrew D. Bernstein. Getty Images.Part of the intrigue of this final sprint to the postseason isn't just about the teams competing for the play in. There are ripple effects all throughout both conferences, especially in the West. Take the Clippers for example. They have some decisions to make as they close out the year.
Here's why this matters. The Nuggets are playing Jokic tonight against the tanking Pistons. Safe to say they'll probably win that game. If they find themselves with the same record as the Clippers, they swap spots since DEN won the season series. With the Lakers most likely ending up in either 6 or 7, you can see the Clippers plan here. They'd be foolish to try and catch the Suns in an effort that the Lakers finish 7th, and if they find their way into the 4/5, you don't have to meet the Lakers until the WCF. Staying in 3 and having the Lakers finish 6th would be worst case scenario.
So what are they doing about it? Well, when you are faced with the challenge of playing the tanking Rockets in a game that you desperately do not want to win, you do this
Here's the good news for any Clippers fans out there. The Rockets actually don't gain anything my losing. Their tanking spot is locked in, so maybe they actually try.
Now there are two ways to look at this. One could say the Clippers are actually afraid of the Lakers and want to avoid them at all costs by doing something like this. That's pretty weak. I get why you do it, but it's certainly lame on some levels. As a fan though, there's part of me that doesn't hate it. As fun as it would be to potentially see the Lakers lose in the first round, we were ALL robbed of a Clippers/Lakers WCF last year because the Clippers choked. Shit is always better when a Finals appearance/title is on the line.
It just goes to show how weird of a season this is. When can you ever remember all these contending teams teams so desperate to get out of a top seed? I suppose we've never really had a healthy LeBron/AD as a 6/7 seed before but it's still weird to see. We know Adam Silver hates tanking, but I would imagine he has no problem with the Clippers doing whatever they can to take and avoid the Lakers so he can have that matchup later. They need all the ratings help they can get, and you lose a large chunk of people if the Lakers lose early.
We're seeing the same shit happen with PHX/UTA in terms of the #1 seed. What if the Lakers finish 7th or 8th? Your reward for having one of the best regular seasons in the league is playing that team healthy? Woof.
So while it's clear that the Clippers want to avoid Lebron and AD for as long as possible, I would just suggest you be careful what you wish for. If the Nuggets end up at 3, that's probably not going to be too long a series with no Jamal Murray and the Lakers having so much more size. What you thought was the right plan might actually backfire if both of those guys are able to find their rhythm and play their way into basketball shape.
There's also no guarantee that the Clippers won't choke again, which is obviously their biggest question heading into this postseason. Can't wait to see how it shakes out.
