Los Angeles Clippers
Record: 46-27
The Los Angeles Clippers, despite their nice record, have left much to be desired this season. Before their collapse in the Western Conference Semifinals last season against the Houston Rockets, there were many experts giving them the benefit of the doubt in their ability to challenge the Golden State Warriors.
The Clippers were playing great basketball, and Blake Griffin was playing at a level that we had never seen (from him) before. However, a huge mental breakdown in Game 6 prevented us from seeing that Clippers-Warriors Conference Finals.
Still, after loading up last summer, with Doc Rivers finally addressing their bench issues (with Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson), the expectation was that the Clippers would be able to challenge in the West. That hasn’t happened.
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The experiment of Smith and Stephenson was nightmarish and Pierce is a walking corpse. After winning 56, 57 and 56 games, respectively, during the last three seasons, something about this Clippers team just leaves a bad taste in our mouths. They’re still going to win 50-plus games, but they aren’t that team that could’ve given the Warriors a competitive series a year ago.