Clippers Have Every Right to Celebrate

The clock showed 8:01 to play when the Clippers turned to the crowd, smiled and waved their arms. There was nothing premature about this celebration. Not when the gestation period was 30 years.

The regular season pointed to this moment -- the first-round series with the Denver Nuggets lost its competitive edge a week ago -- so with the Clippers well on their way to a 101-83 Game 5 victory, it was time to rejoice with a few dunks and flashy passes as the franchise advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since it played as the Buffalo Braves in 1976.

And when the buzzer sounded, it was time for a little payback, coming in the form of rolled-up game notes that Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor used to bop a certain sports columnist in the head. Yes, after getting bashed by the media for so many years, Baylor is entitled to some playful payback.

“It’s great,” Baylor said. “It’s been great. Everything’s going as expected. We believed we could get to the playoffs, we believed we could get to the next round. Everything’s going as expected.

“We believe we can go to the next round.”

And they won’t even have to pack a suitcase to do it if the Lakers finish off the Phoenix Suns to set up an all-Staples Center series in the conference semifinals.

The beauty of advancing in the playoffs is it earns you the right to dream. Why can’t the Clippers go all the way? It might be unlikely, but when you’re one of the last eight teams playing, at least it’s possible.

When they got back to the locker room, Elton Brand told his teammates, “We don’t want to stop here. Don’t open the champagne up yet.”

“We want to go as far as we can go,” Corey Maggette said. “This is the year that we can.”

After Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy described the process in such routine terms -- Defend. Win on the road. Get to 45 victories. Secure home-court in the first round -- I asked whether he ever had time to let his imagination loose.

“I always let my imagination go,” Dunleavy said. “From the very beginning, I look at the path, potentially, that you could take to win a championship.

“There’s not a team out there, matchup-wise, that we don’t think we can beat. I’m not saying that we’re the favorites or we’re better than Detroit or San Antonio, whoever the elite teams have been. But, you know, if they don’t come to play well, I think we can beat those kind of teams

“And that’s a good thing. That’s a great feeling.”

In 1976, the Braves beat the Philadelphia 76ers in what was then a best-of-three first round, then lost to the Boston Celtics, 4-2, in the second round. Four victories. That’s as many playoff games as the franchise would win in its next three playoff series. Now, it’s the number the Clippers have won in 10 days.

Nothing comes that quickly in the NBA, of course. This is the result of (finally) retaining key free agents, a couple of shrewd trades to get Brand and Sam Cassell, and a stable coaching presence in Dunleavy.

The most encouraging part of the last two games for the Clippers is that they haven’t relied on Brand and Cassell. Cuttino Mobley scored 23 points Monday, matched by Maggette. Shaun Livingston, who’s looking better and more confident each game, had 14 assists.

The Clippers built a 14-point third-quarter lead with minimal scoring from Brand, who scored the bulk of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to make sure the Clippers didn’t blow it. Cassell scored 10 points, but as usual he led the team in advice.

And, as usual, a team is better off for having him. The Houston Rockets’ two championships came with Cassell on the roster. Cassell’s first season in Minnesota “coincided” with the Timberwolves’ one and only trip past the first round of the playoffs. And now, for the first time since they stitched “Clippers” on the uniforms in 1978, this franchise is into the second round.

“Don’t give me the credit for it,” Cassell said. “I’m just doing what I’ve been doing.”

It’s a completely new experience for Brand. After playing 526 regular-season games without reaching the postseason, it has taken only five games (one over the minimum) to make the next round.

“It’s still kind of surreal,” Brand said.

It’s pretty sad when a franchise’s playoff history can be detailed on a single sheet of paper -- Page 94 of the Clippers’ postseason media guide.

The list just grew a little longer, with at least four more games to come.

The Clippers have finally turned the page.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.