RealGM

With the season winding down and the team preparing to find a groove going into the playoffs - what are your thoughts about the remaining games as well as the state of the team and the past 74 games.

4/2 @ Kings

4/4 vs Nuggets

4/5 vs Jazz

4/7 vs Cavs

4/9 @ Suns

4/10 vs Suns

4/12 vs Jazz

4/14 vs Rockets


My take :
I was not up or down on all the talks about James Harden coming to LAC. But when it happened 2 weeks into the season , I felt numb. No feelings. I did not follow James Harden too much and was not sure of his game. I heard all of the hate and negative comments about his game but did not feed into it.

He filled a need for a competent point guard and Russ going to the bench seems to have been the right move. Clippers went on a nice win streak and crawled out of the bottom of the west in no time. During that win streak their defense was top tier as was their offense.

Then post All Star , their play dropped a couple of notches below. Defense was not there and offense went back to ISO ball.

Ty Lue called the team soft and Kawhi spoke about what it takes to win NBA games. The teams grind seems to be coming back in the last few games.

I can see Clippers splitting the last 8 games 4-4 and maintaining the 4th spot in the West. They may rest the Max Players the last two games but I do not know this for sure.

The most important thing is to 1.) stay healthy, and 2.) hold onto 4. I'd rather it come easier than harder which would mean being able to throw a game or 2 for rest. But the Mavs are on fire so we may not get that chance.

It would have been really nice to be able to coast a bit with the #4 secured, but that's okay.

I wavered between 5-3 and 4-4, but hey why not be optimistic?