Clippers traveling a rutted playoff road, again
Paul would like nothing better than to win on his former team’s home court, where he, along with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, rehabilitated the Clippers’ reputation from woebegone franchise to exciting contender. Paul was MVP of the 2013 All-Star Game. His alley-oop passes to Griffin and Jordan for dunks established the team’s Lob City moniker.
The trio was part of an epic collapse in 2015. The Clippers led James Harden and the Houston Rockets 3-1 in the second round, but they dropped the final three games to lose 4-3.
After six seasons, in which the Clippers never got past the second round, Paul exited. Griffin and Jordan followed him out of LA.
The playoff shortcomings didn’t end there.
With George and Leonard in their first season together, the Clippers led Denver 3-1 in the bubble last year. They appeared headed toward their first appearance in the conference finals.
Instead, they blew a 15-point lead to lose Game 5, blew a 19-point lead in losing Game 6 and collapsed in the fourth quarter to lose Game 7. Coach Doc Rivers ended up getting fired.
In his first year guiding the Clippers, coach Tyronn Lue has made a series of tweaks in each round. His latest involved starting 7-foot Ivica Zubac and Patrick Beverley in Game 2, in place of the small-ball combo of Terence Mann and Nicolas Batum.
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