Everything was going perfectly well for the Los Angeles Clippers. They defeated the defending NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs in thrilling fashion in the first round. Team chemistry and ball distribution were at their peak, while Blake Griffin was arguably the best player in the playoffs, and they had a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets for the chance to advance to their first ever conference finals. What ensued from that point on was one of the biggest collapses in NBA playoffs history, with the Rockets defeating them in games 5, 6 and 7 to advance to the conference finals and become the ninth team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs. How did the Clippers, who at one point were the favorites to win it all, collapse in such heartbreaking fashion?
Clippers Collapse Costs them Series With Rockets
Let’s start by looking at the game where everything went wrong for the Clippers. While Game 6 was the dagger that doomed them, it was Game 5 that the clear red flags began to appear. It was an opportunity to seal the deal, and the Clippers failed to do it, not because the Rockets played better, but because they beat themselves. The Clippers played sloppy basketball, from bad passes to not being aggressive enough, as if to say “we’ll get the next time.” They did not take Game 5 as seriously as they should have, and this led to the disaster that was Game 6.
Quite frankly, there’s not much to say about Game 6 other than it was a flat out choke by the Clippers. How could a team, as talented and as experienced like the Clippers, who has Chris Paul as their point guard, permit this to happen? To not only lose a 19 point lead, but get outscored 40-15 in the fourth quarter in front of their home crowd is beyond acceptable. Their defense failed miserably throughout this quarter, permitting wide open threes, and doing a horrendous job guarding one-on-one, This permitted Houston to slowly get back in the game. While Houston deserves credit for overcoming such a deficit, the reality is that they were not supposed to be in that position. There’s no other way to describe what transpired in Game 6 as anything but a choke by Los Angeles.
The Clippers also have had a long history of giving away important games when they mattered most. Two years ago, they went ahead 2-0 against the Memphis Grizzlies, only to lose four straight games in the first round of the playoffs. A year later, they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder in second round, and in a pivotal game 5, with the series tied 2-2, they had a six-point lead with five minutes to play. They would lose the game by by one point, and lose the series in six games. Many reporters and analyst have been asking themselves how this could have happened after their success against the Spurs, but considering past history, it should not be that surprising.
The lack of production for many role players is also to blame. Jamal Crawford was not making the same acrobatic shots he made in the regular season, J.J. Redick was going through a slump, Matt Barnes was nowhere to be seen, and Austin Rivers, who had a 25 point performance in game 3, was non-existent the rest of the way. Important figures for the Clippers, who were crucial in their first round win against the Spurs, disappeared as the series went on.
Once again, did the Rockets played well and deserve their due credit? Absolutely, but make no mistake, the Clippers lost this series more than the Rockets won it. There was so much potential to what the Clippers could have done this year, and they threw it all away right about the time they were set to prove us wrong. They have had a long history of blowing away great opportunities, but none have been bigger than this. This will come back to haunt them for a long, long time.
