Clippers ready for the Jazz with previous playoff failures in the back of their minds
The Clippers have their playoff burdens to bear, their inability to get past a certain threshold constantly weighing on them.
But having reached the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season brings the Clippers new hope that they can get past the second round for the first time in franchise history.
They will take the first step in that direction when the Clippers meet the Utah Jazz in the first round Saturday night.
“You can’t do anything about the past,” point guard Chris Paul said. “OKC, Houston and now with Portland and all the injuries, it is what it is. It’s there. So now we just have to play now.”
The Clippers have had their share of pain from past playoff failures.
In the 2014 second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City, the Clippers collapsed in the final 49.2 seconds of Game 3, losing a seven-point lead in the most horrific fashion. And it was Paul who had the meltdown of meltdowns in those final seconds, twice turning the ball over and committing a foul while Russell Westbrook shot a three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left and the Clippers holding a tenuous three-point lead.
In the 2015 second-round playoff series against Houston, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead. They seemingly had wrapped up the series when they took a 19-point lead in the third quarter of Game 6 at Staples Center. But they caved yet again, crumbling in that game and the series.
In the 2016 first-round playoff series against Portland, injuries took the Clippers down after they won the first two games. Paul (broken right hand) and Blake Griffin (left quadriceps tendon) were injured in Game 4 of that series and never returned.
It has been a lot for the Clippers endure over the past few years, a test to their psyche.
“At times, it hits you at different moments,” top reserve Jamal Crawford said. “At moments you’re like, ‘This is frustrating to keep going out like this, to keep having good regular seasons and keep going out like this whether it be through injury or self-inflicted.’ But then there’s times I say, ‘Hey, you know what we’re not that far away obviously. We’re one of the better teams in the league.’ So I think different days bring out different emotions.”
Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner
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