Clippers Playoffs Preview / Round 1 Game #1: MAVS [0-0] @ LAC [0-0] - April 21, 12:30 PM PCT [ABC]

[Wammy Giveaway]

3-0.

The number of death, the finisher, the punisher, the terminator. In baseball, you get three strikes before you're out. In boxing, it's three K.O.s to secure a T.K.O. In basketball, a 3-0 lead means automatic series win. No team has ever recovered from a 0-3 playoff series deficit. As of today, the number of victories built off of a 3-0 lead has grown to 151, and of those 151 only four of those games required a Game 7, the most recent happening just last season between the 8th seed Heat and 2nd seed Celtics. For the Clippers and Mavericks, the number three has a much greater meaning to their respective franchises beyond instant elimination.

In the 2021 NBA Playoffs, the Mavs were one game away from going up 3-0 and ensuring the Clippers would never fight back. But in Game 3, Tyronn Lue made a heavy adjustment by replacing Patrick Beverley with Reggie Jackson in the starting lineup, and the first of their double 2-0 comeback rally officially begun. Some say it was a brilliant move, others believed Clippers were motivated by the fear of a 3-0 deficit and losing Kawhi Leonard to another team as a consequence for getting bounced, especially knowing they were ridiculed in the entire 2020-21 season for the greatest 3-1 collapse in NBA history. With the Clippers having already bested Mavericks in two playoff series, no matter how much they want to believe in the alternative, this is a red alert for Luka Doncic and Dallas. Should Mavs fail to down the Clippers, Doncic will be unfairly labelled George Karl 2.0, a reference to the coach's infamous record of always losing to the Lakers whenever he drew them in the playoffs. No, seriously, Karl has a 0-6 record vs. purple and gold. A loss to Clippers could influence Doncic into leaving Dallas to join another team who can help defeat his arch nemesis for them. Just like when LeBron James left Cavaliers to form the Heatles with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh solely to get past the Big 3 Celtics.

Speaking of the Clippers, their view of the number three is more elusive. Twice in franchise history they were one game away from going up 3-0, only for their series to fall flat on their face. Against the Grizzlies in 2013 and Blazers in 2016, a simple injury to their superstar Blake Griffin culminated into four straight losses. So when they went up 3-1 versus both Rockets in 2015 and Nuggets in 2020, they either didn't know what to do to close the moment, they were so caught up in the excitement of being one game away, or they had doubts of their lead and were afraid of letting their fans down if their clinching victory did not have some memorable highlight reel plays like a lob-jam or a poster. The Clippers have never swept an opponent, let alone go up 3-0. A true title contender leaves lesser competition into the dust, and in the playoffs they do it with 3-0 leads. Are they afraid of giving up a 3-0 lead and being the only team in NBA history to lose under this circumstances? With how the Clippers have always wound up in outlier stats all their lives, this may definitely be the case.

The Clipper's Killer Kombat season commenced with a re-enforcement of the player participation policy and the institution to some new CBA rules, with the Clipper's franchise faces as the poster child for these rules. The 2nd apron severely limited their trading and spending power to build their roster, while the player participation policy levied fines and awards criteria for resting. In the eyes of the basketball world, Clippers were forced to play every single game, and even one day off was deemed load management. Their schedule was out of Dante's Inferno, sprinkled with lots of matinee games and the longest miles traveled between games (Thank heavens there wasn't a secret three-games-in-a-row scenario). When Leonard started succumbing to injury near the end of the season, they were like "You did this to yourself." Then it's no wonder why the entire sports media has placed their undying trust in Doncic and the Mavs to advance, not to protect their generation's darling, but to relish in the utter destruction of the Clipper franchise. Everyone on the roster is up for grabs, including their three superstars Paul George, Russell Westbrook and James Harden; not to mention the valuable role players in Norman Powell, Ivica Zubac, Amir Coffey and their beloved savior Terence Mann. If the world has their way of rigging the 1st round in favor of Dallas, the Intuit Dome's inaugural season will be very grim.

The 2023-24 season was the first in Clipper franchise history to not have a player thrown out of a game, but they still had an ejection to their tally courtesy of their coach Tyronn Lue in a game vs. Warriors before the All-Star Break. His coaching acumen took a dive after leading the Clippers to their first ever conference finals berth - preferential treatment, players tuning out, overall frustration - and when he got ejected, it was validation that Lue was a lame duck coach and on the hot seat. Mavs win this series, Lue is fired.

Also possibly taking the heat include president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, whose own moves have been questioned and criticized for trading their draft picks to the bone, giving up on youth, clinging too much to the past (be it a former Clipper or someone who was excellent at least a decade ago), being dismissive of the draft, bringing in superstar's best friends, and shooting for the moon with a superstar trade to give them the first ever True Big 3 in franchise history. Even the questionable signing of Josh Primo was odd, partially seen as a redemption project but at the cost of public relations, followed by the last minute signing of Kai Jones as a "playoffs surprise". The Clipper's reliance on being silent and keeping their cards close to the vest to prevent opposing teams from gaining an unfair advantage has come with the risk of alienating and cutting ties to even the most loyal of fans. A Dallas win might send Frank packing.

However, if there's one person who might get the brunt of criticism, it may be of the logo Jerry West. Brought on to the Clippers as a special consultant, West's job was to reform the entire basketball operations from head to toe, showing them how to run a franchise properly while not letting personal emotions get in the way of business. West's resume of championships with Lakers and Warriors speaks for itself, and there is that period where he helped established the newcomer Grizzlies into a relevant playoff contender. Unlike those three franchises, the Clippers have appeared to be the one team with much difficulty to get right. Were the Clippers near the Lakers/Warriors dynasty tier or closer to the Grizzlies-relevancy tier. Retrospectively speaking they're closer to Memphis than to Big Brother and Golden State, but with their loser habits always coming out at the worst possible of times the Clippers might be in between the two, or a tier all to themselves. A dismal defeat to Doncic and his superstar partner Kyrie Irving could severely damage West's legacy.

Lots at stake here. Superstars and role players taken away from them. An empty-handed Intuit Dome for Steve Ballmer. Tarnished legacy for West. All can happen in the blink of an eye. The world is officially against the Clippers and wants to see them demised. Do you believe?

This post was brought to you by the letters L, A and C, and the number 3.

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[Scoundreldays]

Alright PG and Harden, with no Kawhi time to earn those extensions you want.

[KL2]

Coffey starting in place for Leonard.

[wakelaunch1]

Shaq Zubac to start