After All the Changes, Clippers Incapable of Seizing Franchise-Altering Moment
Maybe if they hadn't blown the opportunity, the magnitude of what was there to be accomplished by the Los Angeles Clippers would be more obvious.
The Clippers are playing in the spotlight of the only first-round NBA playoff series that truly captivates the public. They own home-court advantage versus the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and are seeking to capitalize on the righteous momentum of no longer being Donald Sterling's oppressed property.
These are pivotal days in this franchise's life story. After so many years when true achievement wasn't really pursued or rewarded, the Clippers possess respected talent, experience and leadership—and hopes are legitimately high.
So the loss Wednesday night, by a 111-107 count in overtime, is profound. Going up 2-0 on the Spurs would've been eye-opening. Instead, the Clippers couldn't take control.
The impact could be seen in two snapshots:
- Inconsolable Blake Griffin cringed as the fourth-quarter horn sounded and he knew his gaffe seconds earlier meant a nearly sure victory had become an overtime toss-up.
- Chris Paul was hopping mad at his teammates for not getting back on defense late in overtime—howling his frustrations after Matt Barnes shot a three-pointer and he and Griffin just watched it miss instead of hustling back in transition defense to prevent Patty Mills' layup.
There had been potential to shake the old loser Clippers stigma. We're talking about Griffin and Paul, who new owner Steve Ballmer proudly suggested before the season are two of the top five players in the game, being this close to walking proudly off the court in charge of the champs.
Instead, we wonder why it is like this with the Clippers.
Why aren't they better?
There are basketball reasons beyond the karma that Lakers fans feel went sour the moment the Clippers cashed in with their trade for Paul after the Lakers' deal for him had been aborted.
For all the talent of Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, none of them is a LeBron James or even Kawhi Leonard when it comes to creating plays all his own at critical times. Griffin is close, and he fashions himself in between a small forward and a power forward—with further proof coming in the form of his triple-double Wednesday.
But Griffin's very good handle wasn't enough to win this game. Even though he'd just faced up and created a basket against Leonard's mighty defense, Griffin lost the ball for that tide-turning turnover (and Mills' transition-created free throws) with the game in his hands and guard Marco Belinelli in front of him with 12 seconds left in regulation.
"That game is pretty much 100 percent on me," Griffin told reporters afterward. "I got the ball, up two. Needed to take care of it, needed to get a good shot or try to get fouled. And I turned it over. So that game is on me."
Paul's individual playoff impact has always been limited by his 6'0" size, with opposing coaches putting a bigger defender on him or pushing him out with aggressive traps. Jordan's heinous free-throw shooting is being probed already by intentional fouling from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
The role players are basically undependable jump-shot artists, as seen by Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick and Barnes combining to shoot nine of 35 from the field (25.7 percent) Wednesday. The supposed bench booster for this season, free-agent shooting big man Spencer Hawes, couldn't be trusted to play a single second in the game.
But the greatest mystery is why Doc Rivers can't teach the Clippers to defend. This is a team with two top defenders in Paul outside and Jordan inside, plus Griffin's obvious athletic ability.
Is it because Rivers so rarely practices? Is it because Tom Thibodeau and Kevin Garnett were the ones really leading the Boston Celtics' NBA championship defense in 2008?
The Clippers ranked in the NBA's bottom half for defensive efficiency this season, and their rotations are consistently haphazard. Their superior energy was enough to win Game 1, but teams that stink at defensive execution are invariably vulnerable in the playoffs with all the half-court sets.
All that said, the Clippers were right there Wednesday night.
It was the ultimate playoff game that could've gone either way. Both teams felt like they had it: The Spurs up by 10 with 6:23 left in the fourth quarter; the Clippers holding an 89.8 percent win probability, via stats.inpredictable.com, with their two-point lead before Griffin's killer turnover.
Certainly the Spurs had a lot to lose in Game 2 as they try to prove they have enough in the tank for a third consecutive NBA Finals run. But the Clippers stand at a crossroads of generational proportions here. They were predicted by most to lose this opening series, and the chances of that happening shifted dramatically Wednesday night.
People outside of Southern California wonder how much ground the Clippers are making up on the struggling Lakers these days.
They aren't. Nothing has changed.
The Lakers' popularity is like the Hollywood sign, an iconic part of the area's landscape and resonating with fans around the world. The Clippers are just trying to get people to notice them. And going up 2-0 on the Spurs would've helped the resume quite a bit.
That opportunity is gone now—piled up with so many other moments in their history that the Clippers have let pass without seizing.
Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.
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