LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
by ClipperSteve of Clips Nation
Recap Rewind: The Clippers entered the final 10 days of the season with a one game lead over the Warriors in the loss column in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Now, I realize that the loss column isn't really the be-all end-all when you're talking about teams that are below .500, but it does mean that you control your own destiny. Furthermore, owning the Division record tie-breaker over the Dubs amounted to a virtual two game lead. And facing four opponents with a combined winning percentage under 45%, destiny seemed to be smiling. But destiny is a tricky thing. On Tuesday in Oklahoma City, things started off well enough as the Clippers built an 11 point half time lead agaist a Hornets team who had recently lost Desmond Mason and Tyson Chandler, in addition to Peja who's been gone for months. And then the Clippers took a little nap during halftime and came out groggy in the third quarter, in which they were outscored 29-14. They battled back to tie the game on an Elton Brand dunk at the end of regulation, but had nothing left for the OT and lost 103-100. Brand ended up with 37 points, but the Clippers bench was essentially non-existent, scoring only 11. OK. Now you're tied in the loss column. You're still guaranteed a playoff berth if you win your final five, thanks to that tie-breaker, but a three-game losing streak in April is not really a good sign. Thursday night on TNT, in the final game of the Hallway series, the Clippers got HUGE games from Corey Maggette (a career high 39 points on 15 shots, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals) and Brand (32 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists) and beat their dreaded roommates. Incidentally, if you do the math, that's 71 points, 20 rebounds and 16 assists from the Clipper forwards. Um, wow. They needed them too, as that guy Kobe Bryant hung another half-century on them. The 118-110 win was important for so many reasons. The bench played better - Sam Cassell returned to the court and scored 12 point in 20 minutes, his most in over 3 weeks; the Clippers mounted a significant comeback late in an important game, reversing their negative momentum; and suddenly the self-destructing Lakers were also catchable, only a game ahead in that self-same loss column. The momentum continued the next night against the Portland Tank-Blazers - the Clippers led by 15 at the half and 24 after three on their way to an easy 107-89 win. Four Clipper starters scored at least 17, led by Cat Mobley's 22 - that's how you play down the stretch in a playoff race. And Sunday afternoon they showed us how NOT to play. Maybe they thought the 32-win Kings would roll over as quickly as the Blazers did. Maybe they have other things to do in late April and want to be done with basketball. Whatever the reason, the Clippers entire team (save EB) failed to show up for the first half against the Kings and allowed a bunch of guys you've basically never heard of (Quincy Douby, Francisco Garcia, John Salmons and Justin Williams each played more minutes than Mike Bibby) to build a 23 point first half lead on Clipper turnovers, offensive rebounds, layups and open threes. By the time LA woke up and started a come back in the fourth quarter, it was too late - they got within 4, but no closer, and lost 105-100. Bye-bye destiny. Hello density. As in, "How could they possibly be so dense?" With two games left, they would need help from at least one of the Warriors final two opponents (the Mavs and the Blazers) and of course they'd have to win their own games. On Tuesday night, with the Clippers in Phoenix and the Warriors at home against the mighty Mavs, the question was who would play for the respective division leaders who had already locked in their playoff seeds? The answer was not what the Clippers wanted to hear. The Suns fielded their regular starting five to face LA and played them their regular minutes. Up in Oakland, the Mavs started a bunch of guys you've barely heard of. Ouch. With the Warriors building a big lead, it looked like the Clippers season might end that night, but they managed to hold off the talented Suns 103-99 for arguably the biggest win of the season. So it would come down to the final game - Clippers at home against the Hornets, Warriors visiting Portland. Again, the 'opponent gods' were not smiling, as the Blazers were missing 6 of their top 8 players. Although MD, Sr forbade the Warriors score to be shown on the Staples Center boards, the players snuck a peak at halftime and learned that the Dubs were ahead by 18. The Clippers were eliminated from playoff contention with about 4 minutes left in their game, which they lost on a three point play by Clipper-killer Rasual Butler with 1.5 seconds left. They ended the season 40-42, the consensus pick for "Most Disappointing Team in the NBA."
Notable News: The normally demure Elton Brand was livid after the loss to the Kings, using words like "sick", "disgusted" and "shocked" to describe his teammates' efforts. Hard to blame him. No one in the NBA works harder than EB, and he deserved his second trip to the playoffs in his eigth year in the league, but he didn't have enough help... Cat Mobley strained a calf muscle at the end of the Kings game and missed the final two.
Fast Forward: An early vacation, likely followed by the 14th pick in the draft. Yuck. With most of their roster signed through next season, there are no obvious moves for the Clippers in the offseason. Point guard is a huge problem in the immediate term, but there's not elegant solution. Sam Cassell is signed one more year but if he was hurt this much at 37, how bad will it get at 38? Shaun Livingston is still the point guard of the future, at least until we find out more about his rehab. So there's no sense in signing a free agent to play the point (not that there are any available). And the draft is deep in every position except point guard. So it's likely the Clippers will begin next season with Cassell, Jason Hart, a second rounder and their fingers crossed.
