Game 65: Los Angeles Clippers (44-20) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (49-14) - 9 PM ET
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:44 pm
"Lou Williams screws social distancing and risks the NBA season by going to a strip club for wings, but in the public's eye, it's women!"
"Scott Foster is officiating the Lakers/Clippers game, meaning this game is rigged!"
Outrageous claims and news reports can only mean that the NBA is back. After a three and a half month suspension forced upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019-2020 season, AKA The Year Of The Hindsight, resumes in a half-baked capacity. No fans, no travel, no home court advantages. The Magic Kingdom is your playground, yet you can't even get to go to Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, let alone Soarin'. To make matters even worse, Mickey Mouse and his band of buddies are reportedly not invited to be in the bubble (Spongebob Squarepants and his fellow Nicktoons feel for The House Of Mouse).
But that's okay for the Clippers, a franchise whose history is riddled with delusions of grandeur that took a TMZ taping for disgraced owner Donald Sterling to get kicked out of the Board Of Governors. Former Spur Kawhi Leonard, his most recent Finals MVP coming by way of Jurassic Park, his fellow Cali native Paul George, and their sandlot of role players which include co-Sixth Man Of The Year award nominees will be looking for their first championship albeit in very unusual circumstances. But maybe that's what motivates the Clippers into finally winning one. The Raptors gave up somebody they truly loved in DeMar DeRozan so that dinosaurs can rule the earth again. The Cavaliers needed a miracle 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals against the invincible Golden State Warriors to make Cleveland a city of champions again. The Washington Nationals of the MLB had to win all their World Series games exclusively on the road to help win one for the fallen Montreal Expos. Maybe winning in a neutral court without any fans - repping for or rooting against - might be the Clipper's version of stars and planets aligning.
But let's get a few things squared away first. This season has been a battle of the mind, maturity vs. old habits. Clippers still lost to lottery teams, their players got too emotional that resulted in technical fouls and ejections, and they have a 3-game losing streak which reduces their championship chances greatly to another 2nd round exit. Such attitudes have to change quickly, and it starts with just one rule:
Take competition SERIOUSLY: don't feint your game strategy in the seeding games. Don't play mind games with your opponents, and absolutely do not grant them a vote of confidence. Speaking of today's game vs. Lakers, Clippers have a 2-1 lead in the Hallway series. A 3-1 lead for the season series victory can shatter whatever hope the Lakers had in winning the title should they draw the Clippers in the playoffs, maybe the Lakers get eliminated before even getting there. But Doc loves to tempt fate, pretend that the Clippers are beatable, only to psyche his opponents out in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, or exclusively in the playoffs. The last thing you want to do is even up the score, and Jim Carrey proudly decreeing that the Lakers have a chance. Furthermore, inexplicable losses in the seeding games might pit the Clippers against the Thunder and the ghost of Clippers past, as DJ Foster of Clipperblog fame mentions in his latest piece for The Ringer.
If the Clippers want to avoid "It's the Clippers" remarks, it starts by winning the season series vs. their arch nemesis.
"Scott Foster is officiating the Lakers/Clippers game, meaning this game is rigged!"
Outrageous claims and news reports can only mean that the NBA is back. After a three and a half month suspension forced upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019-2020 season, AKA The Year Of The Hindsight, resumes in a half-baked capacity. No fans, no travel, no home court advantages. The Magic Kingdom is your playground, yet you can't even get to go to Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, let alone Soarin'. To make matters even worse, Mickey Mouse and his band of buddies are reportedly not invited to be in the bubble (Spongebob Squarepants and his fellow Nicktoons feel for The House Of Mouse).
But that's okay for the Clippers, a franchise whose history is riddled with delusions of grandeur that took a TMZ taping for disgraced owner Donald Sterling to get kicked out of the Board Of Governors. Former Spur Kawhi Leonard, his most recent Finals MVP coming by way of Jurassic Park, his fellow Cali native Paul George, and their sandlot of role players which include co-Sixth Man Of The Year award nominees will be looking for their first championship albeit in very unusual circumstances. But maybe that's what motivates the Clippers into finally winning one. The Raptors gave up somebody they truly loved in DeMar DeRozan so that dinosaurs can rule the earth again. The Cavaliers needed a miracle 3-1 comeback in the NBA Finals against the invincible Golden State Warriors to make Cleveland a city of champions again. The Washington Nationals of the MLB had to win all their World Series games exclusively on the road to help win one for the fallen Montreal Expos. Maybe winning in a neutral court without any fans - repping for or rooting against - might be the Clipper's version of stars and planets aligning.
But let's get a few things squared away first. This season has been a battle of the mind, maturity vs. old habits. Clippers still lost to lottery teams, their players got too emotional that resulted in technical fouls and ejections, and they have a 3-game losing streak which reduces their championship chances greatly to another 2nd round exit. Such attitudes have to change quickly, and it starts with just one rule:
Take competition SERIOUSLY: don't feint your game strategy in the seeding games. Don't play mind games with your opponents, and absolutely do not grant them a vote of confidence. Speaking of today's game vs. Lakers, Clippers have a 2-1 lead in the Hallway series. A 3-1 lead for the season series victory can shatter whatever hope the Lakers had in winning the title should they draw the Clippers in the playoffs, maybe the Lakers get eliminated before even getting there. But Doc loves to tempt fate, pretend that the Clippers are beatable, only to psyche his opponents out in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, or exclusively in the playoffs. The last thing you want to do is even up the score, and Jim Carrey proudly decreeing that the Lakers have a chance. Furthermore, inexplicable losses in the seeding games might pit the Clippers against the Thunder and the ghost of Clippers past, as DJ Foster of Clipperblog fame mentions in his latest piece for The Ringer.
If the Clippers want to avoid "It's the Clippers" remarks, it starts by winning the season series vs. their arch nemesis.
