Everyone has some type of excuse for losing. All I know is that I saw an inspired team out there on the court yesterday afternoon going up against a desperate team that were still looking for themselves. They beat last years champs so in the eyes of everyone else, they SHOULD have beaten us easily. They had their chance, they had TWO chances and were about 13 minutes away from advancing. It didn't happen. Sucks for them. We won, they lost. Game over. Bring on the f'n Warriors.... let's make them find their own excuse as well.
Seriously, I was thinking this during game 7. The Clippers just didn't have the juice to clamp down on defense. They couldn't keep up with Harden AND contest 3-point shots. I have no problem with the media breaking down why the Clippers lost. Exhaustion seems valid to me. When the Rockets were bumbling early in the 2nd half, the Clippers energy level definitely wasn't the reason. I didn't see the sense of urgency from them (in a team sense). The only guy that seemed keyed in was CP3. The Clippers weak bench is why the Rockets were a better team. Sounds good to me. You run your main horses too long and it eventually bites.
When the series was on the line the Rockets straight up outplayed them. That's my narrative m8s and I'm sticking to it.
Any particular reason Why . . .the Cavs AND the Hawks finished their series before us yet don't start theirs until after us? Rocket River
Something not mentioned yet, but earned, was the Clippers having to travel East, and play in a 3:30 pm game. The Rockets earned that advantage. If they were tired, we ran them into it, and we earned it. That is why home court matters.
cant wait till next year, with a healthy dwight and harden torching the league, everyone will stfu about the rockets hate.
Clippers were exhausted, but so what? Their bench has been a weakness of theirs and it showed. Clippers knew they had poor depth and never bettered their roster to account for it. The only excuse you can make that was out of their control is their first-round opponent. We had an easier opponent than they did. That does factor into how energized and healthy you are for the next series. The same argument applies when people talk Eastern vs. Western conference.
We literally won fair and square. We were the better team and we freaking won. People can make excuses but we won and they didn't. Its that easy
What do you all expect? Cljppers cry about everything. Before, during, and at the end. Doc doesnt know how to incorporate his other bench players. Thats his problem. He should have instilled some confidence in austin. He hit some big shots. He should have spread it around during the regular season. Look at how Josh came out. He and Brew were the x factors this years playoffs.
I'll accept we got hot when we needed it most. I'll accept that having 6 NBA level players at best is definitely a factor. We still clamped down defensively, we never gave up, and they choked. They were scared to shoot, how many mid-air passes did they do per possession? They gave up. They had nothing left and we wanted it more. Game seven proved it. We're talking about 19 points at home! There's no excuse. Run out some clock, hack Dwight. Give us some f'n credit.
The idea that the Spurs series somehow drained the Clippers too much is nonsense. When the Rockets won the championship in 95, everyone kept speculating that they couldn't possibly keep playing well deep into the playoffs after having such grueling series in the first two rounds. Surely they would get tired and the Spurs/Magic would run them off the court? It never happened and instead they actually got better as they went along. If the Spurs really took that much out of the Clippers then the Clippers must have some crap conditioning. Now, the Clippers did get tired but that was because Rivers was overplaying his guys within the specific games. His rotation was too short and it hurt them, but that's their own fault and shouldn't be held against the Rockets, just as if McHale was running Harden and Dwight into the ground, you'd be right to criticize McHale for not running the bench more.
Funny, the Clippers looked anything but tired until the fourth quarter of game 6. It's an indictment on their mentality that they are putting this excuse out there. I'm really starting to believe that Doc Rivers fosters this sort of excuse-happy atmosphere. I'm just happy we were able to help these guys get plenty of rest for the remainder of the spring/summer.
ESPN vs TNT tv rights and a fixed schedule. Unlike years past, the entire NBA playoff schedule has been fixed this year, so when a series finished doesn't effect the planed dates for games for the next series. In years past, dates were fluid and even the NBA finals wasn't set in stone.
As JVG said pinning the Clippers collapse on fatigue is disingenuous. Could it have played a factor, yes, but was it the end all be all? No. A better argument is that the Clippers lost confidence and their mental solidarity that got them over the hump against the Spurs. Letting a team come back from 19 down in an elimination game is psychological kryptonite. Add that to the immense pressure of losing a 3-1 lead and playing a juiced up Rockets team at home. That's why they loss, not solely fatigue. If the fatigue narrative were true, why didn't we see the Clippers slip up in Game 1 after a grueling series against the Spurs? G1 was one of their best games in the series w/out their best player at that.
wait? I thought we lost Game 1 because we were too rested and rusty...so their lack of rest won them Game 1, ... wasn't that the excuse for the Rockets that fans made around here? The Rest for Rusty debate is such a joke. People turn that narrative around as they see fit. If Clips were tired excuse is real, then it's simply because the Rockets are deeper and more athletic.
Wow, Wtf, I hadn't heard those yet. I also found some bull**** earlier asking "where did this Clutch City stuff come from?" hahah, stupid Internet posters....
