Star of the Game
For the Clippers, are you kidding? You’re kidding, right? There are no stars for the Clippers in a game like this. I won’t insult the players who played well in the loss by calling them stars. This game was star-free.
Biggest Concern
Ok, now this is a much easier question to answer. Teams lose. It happens. No team in the history of the Association has ever gone a full season without tasting defeat. This includes teams with Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and even the GOAT, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All of them tasted defeat. They were even a part of teams that were blown out. Again, it happens. What makes this Clippers team unique is that this has happened to them in the biggest stage, the NBA playoffs. When it happens once in the regular season, you can brush it off as an aberration. When it happens with millions of people watching; when it happens again and again, well, that something else altogether.
The biggest concern for this team is that this becomes an expectation. Imagine it you were the coach of a team that was down 20 to the Los Angeles Clippers in the 3rd quarter. I mean, what would you say? If it were me, I would remind my team that we are playing the LA Clippers. The team that makes a habit of losing games when they are up big. I would remind my team of the playoffs against Houston and Denver. I might even remind them of this game against the Warriors. I would let my team know they don’t need to worry, they just need to continue to press cause these Clippers will fold. We have them right where we want them. Then, we would go out and beat them by 11.
The biggest concern for this team is that scenario playing out this season.
Surprise Contribution
There were no surprise contributions, just epic letdowns.
Next Up
Sunday, January 10th. An early afternoon game against the Chicago Bulls
