Clippers 2016-17 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions
The 2015-16 season ended on the most disappointing of notes for the Los Angeles Clippers. Season-ending injuries to the team's two superstars, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, led to a first-round playoff exit against the Portland Trail Blazers in a season that started with title aspirations.
Things aren't going to get any easier in the Western Conference this year for the Clippers. The 73-win Warriors added superstar Kevin Durant. The San Antonio Spurs traded Boris Diaw and saw legend Tim Duncan retire, but they also signed Pau Gasol to pair with Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, forming perhaps the best frontcourt in the NBA.
The Clippers, meanwhile, essentially treaded water this offseason. They re-signed Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Luc Mbah a Moute and Wesley Johnson, moves that ensured the Clippers will remain one of the deepest teams in the NBA. Cole Aldrich and Jeff Green departed, but the Clippers also signed Marreese Speights and Brandon Bass to fill out the frontcourt.
Will those moves be enough to compete with the star-laden Warriors, however? As long as Paul, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan remain healthy, the Clippers will be a threat in the West. Whether they have the star power to compete for a title is another matter entirely.
Below, we'll break down the team's top matchups for the upcoming season, its title odds and offer a prediction for its regular-season record.
2015-16 Details
Season Opener: Thursday, Oct. 27 at the Portland Trail Blazers
Championship Odds: According to Odds Shark, the Clippers have 15-1 title odds.
Full Schedule: NBA.com
Top Matchups
First Home Matchup: Wednesday, Dec. 7
The aforementioned Warriors are stacked. The core of the team already included defending two-time MVP Steph Curry, the league's best shooting guard, Klay Thompson, and versatile forward Draymond Green. And this summer, they added Durant to that mix.
Just how ridiculous are the Warriors?
- Curry and Durant have combined to win the past three league MVP awards.
- Curry (30.1 PPG) and Durant (28.2 PPG) were first and third, respectively, in scoring last season.
- Curry (402) and Thompson (276) were first and second, respectively, in three-pointers made last season. They were also third and tied for sixth, respectively, in three-point percentage.
- The Warriors led the NBA in points per game last season with 114.9. The Oklahoma City Thunder—Durant's former team—were second on that list.
- The Warriors led the NBA with 28.9 assists per game last season. Durant won't make them any more selfish—he averaged 5.0 assists per game last year.
Look, until we actually see the Warriors in action, it's hard to know how they'll coexist. And outside of a starting lineup that includes Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green and Andre Iguodala, the Warriors aren't terribly deep (though that may hamper them more later in the season or in the playoffs).
The Clippers played the Warriors tough in 2015-16 but still lost all four games in the regular-season series. Still, two of those losses were by four points or fewer, and the team's athletic frontcourt of Griffin and Jordan could give Golden State trouble, not to mention the extremely talented Paul.
That makes the Clippers one of the few teams built to give the Warriors a challenge, per Zach Lowe of ESPN:
"The Griffin-Jordan combination stands as one of the few front-line tandems that can put the hurt on Golden State. Imagine the version of Griffin who tore apart San Antonio in the 2015 playoffs going balls-to-the-wall on both ends against Golden State in May—switching onto Curry, posting up every smaller Warrior (Green has mostly stone-walled him, alas), leading fast breaks and flying everywhere?
The Clippers don't have enough oomph on the perimeter to topple a healthy Golden State bunch, but they could at least make it fun.
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In 2015-16, the Clippers still came up short four times, and injuries prevented them from meeting the Warriors in the postseason. In 2016-17, the challenge has only grown more difficult.
San Antonio Spurs
First Home Matchup: Thursday, Dec. 22
The Clippers had somewhat more success against the Spurs, finishing the season series 1-2. But the Spurs front line of Gasol, Aldridge and Leonard will be a tall task for Jordan and Griffin to contain.
The Clippers win the battle of the backcourt, however, with Paul holding the advantage over Tony Parker, and J.J. Redick's perimeter presence offering the Clippers a bit more than Danny Green gives the Spurs at the 2. The Clippers are a bit deeper as well, though Gregg Popovich gives the Spurs the advantage from an X's and O's standpoint.
At the moment, the Clippers and Spurs seem to be the two teams most closely battling for the right to hold the distinction of being the second-best team in the West, though it's obviously too soon to crown the Warriors NBA champions just yet.
Still, the games between the Clippers and Spurs will be fascinating. Both project to be top-five teams next season, and both are loaded with star power. If the Clippers struggle against the Spurs in the regular season, however, it will be hard to envision the team getting out of the Western Conference come the postseason.
Record Prediction
Everything in 2016-17 will rely on the Clippers staying healthy.
When Jordan, Griffin and Paul are all on the court together, the Clippers are one of the best teams in the NBA. Redick gives them a dangerous presence on the perimeter, Crawford is instant offense off the bench and Rivers, Mbah a Moute, Johnson, Speights, Bass and Raymond Felton give the Clippers one of the deepest rotations, if not the deepest rotation, in the NBA.
But at this point, it's title-or-bust for the Clippers, and it's hard to envision them toppling both the Warriors and Spurs to even get to the NBA Finals, let alone LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers if they somehow escape the West.
The Clippers will be good in 2016-17. They certainly should be one of the top three teams in the West. But it's hard to see them being good enough to win a title.
Prediction: 57-25
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