Was mentioned in the game action thread, but this hilarious clippers meltdown is too good to not share and start a new thread...it ain't even the playoffs yet The clippers commentary is great. CP3, although an all-time great, one of the unclutchest guys out there.
Years from now, when people look back at this Clippers team, conventional wisdom will be that we psychologically broke them in Game 6 of the 2015 semifinals. I take great personal satisfaction from that.
#Clippers blew 94-76 lead w/ 4:59 left today vs #Kings. #NBA teams with 18+ pt lead under 5:00 were perfect 6746-0 SU L20 years until today.
I can hear Doc Rivers after the game. "OK, at least we got that choke-job out of our system before the playoffs this time."
The fact that we're doing so well while they're just continuing to disintegrate makes this so much sweeter.
2 years ago, CP3 hit a series winning shot against the then defending champion Spurs. Then the Clippers went on to blow game 6 and the series against Rockets comeback team that was lead by Josh Smith (out of the league) and Corey Brewer (tank commander for the Lakers), and Harden pretty much quitting before the 4th. Since then, CP3 and Blake have won a handful of games in the clutch, but have also missed in big moments. Then in last year's playoffs, they both get hurt in game 4 of rd 1. I really have no idea what to make of this Clips team this year. They started out like gangbusters and have really stumbled lately. I kind of agree that the Rockets mentally broke them two years ago and they had the same nerves showed up again against the Kings. I mean, they had a 24 second shot clock violation with like a minute left because they passed up multiple shots. So I tend to think they're mentally fragile and would lose to the Rockets in the playoffs...but damn they're still so talented.
Doc Rivers is not a great coach nor GM, the roster is unbalanced and old, they've had injuries, DJ is far from a great center, Griffin hasn't improved and CP3 is not at his best.
Chris Paul has been extremely clutch throughout his career. In those deciding games back in 2015, he had to do everything because his "co-stars" were all running from the ball when things got tough. When you are a PG, and the guys you are supposed to be setting up don't want the ball things tend to not go well. A lot of their games have followed a similar pattern in tight situations. The Clipper team is very un-clutch (Griffin in particular shriveled), but Paul isn't. Nothing but mental midgets surrounding him.
Yeah, i'm not sure too, i mean, i DON'T like Paul, he whines and flop too much, but i still think he's a great player, watch out if he goes to the Spurs this summer...
I think that may have broken them just as much as the Rockets' 3-1 comeback in 2015 did. They were on their way to winning that series before Paul and Griffin got hurt. It may have gone 7, but Portland was not gonna beat the Clippers at full strength. And granted, LA probably loses to Golden State in the 2nd round, but at least they would've gotten a shot at the Warriors that had been denied to them a year earlier. I think those two straight playoff heartbreaks took a serious toll on them mentally. And then add to that this season where they start out something like 14-2 and then Griffin gets hurt again and then after he returns, Paul gets injured. In a way, this bunch reminds me of those Yao-McGrady Rockets teams where they could never get a break. When their stars were healthy, they had no depth which led to early exits in the postseason. When they finally did get a bench, the stars couldn't stay on the court.
