The playoff hunt

[Dynamix]

I was just taking a look at our remaining schedule (24 games), and oh boy, do we have some work ahead of us. The second half of March is kinda insane. We basically have to win most of our home games (13 total, 9 against other playoff teams), the 2 road games against tankers, then aim for .500 in the 9 remaining road games against winning teams.

- Tue, Feb 27 @ Denver
- Wed, Feb 28 vs Houston
- Fri, Mar 2 vs NY Knicks
- Sun, Mar 4 vs Brooklyn
- Tue, Mar 6 vs New Orleans
- Fri, Mar 9 vs Cleveland
- Sat, Mar 10 vs Orlando
- Tue, Mar 13 @ Chicago

- Thu, Mar 15 @ Houston
- Fri, Mar 16 @ Oklahoma City
- Sun, Mar 18 vs Portland
- Tue, Mar 20 @ Minnesota
- Wed, Mar 21 @ Milwaukee
- Fri, Mar 23 @ Indiana
- Sun, Mar 25 @ Toronto
- Tue, Mar 27 vs Milwaukee
- Wed, Mar 28 @ Phoenix
- Fri, Mar 30 @ Portland

- Sun, Apr 1 vs Indiana
- Tue, Apr 3 vs San Antonio
- Thu, Apr 5 @ Utah
- Sat, Apr 7 vs Denver
- Mon, Apr 9 vs New Orleans
- Wed, Apr 11 vs Lakers

Let's say we go 15-9: 9-4 at home, 2-0 against road tankers, 4-5 on the road. 46 total wins should be enough. Here are some projections, for refference: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-nba-predictions/

Mid-March Update> 8 games down, 16 to go. 4-2 at home, 1-0 against road tankers, 1-0 on the road. Current record: 37-29.

End-of-March Update> 18 games down, 6 to go. 5-3 at home, 2-0 against road tankers, 3-5 on the road. Current record: 41-35.

[ejftw]

Three of the last four being against teams we are fighting with is absolutely nuts. And as a fan, I love it!

[esqtvd]

I was just taking a look at our remaining schedule (24 games), and oh boy, do we have some work ahead of us. The second half of March is kinda insane. We basically have to win most of our home games (13 total, 9 against other playoff teams), the 2 road games against tankers, then aim for .500 in the 9 remaining road games against winning teams.

- Tue, Feb 27 @ Denver
- Wed, Feb 28 vs Houston
- Fri, Mar 2 vs NY Knicks
- Sun, Mar 4 vs Brooklyn
- Tue, Mar 6 vs New Orleans
- Fri, Mar 9 vs Cleveland
- Sat, Mar 10 vs Orlando
- Tue, Mar 13 @ Chicago

- Thu, Mar 15 @ Houston
- Fri, Mar 16 @ Oklahoma City
- Sun, Mar 18 vs Portland
- Tue, Mar 20 @ Minnesota
- Wed, Mar 21 @ Milwaukee
- Fri, Mar 23 @ Indiana
- Sun, Mar 25 @ Toronto
- Tue, Mar 27 vs Milwaukee
- Wed, Mar 28 @ Phoenix
- Fri, Mar 30 @ Portland

- Sun, Apr 1 vs Indiana
- Tue, Apr 3 vs San Antonio
- Thu, Apr 5 @ Utah
- Sat, Apr 7 vs Denver
- Mon, Apr 9 vs New Orleans
- Wed, Apr 11 vs Lakers

Let's say we go 15-9: 9-4 at home, 2-0 against tankers, 4-5 on the road. 46 total wins should be enough. Here are some projections, for refference: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-nba-predictions/

Thx for this roundup, bro! I'm not even going to scoreboard-watch until the last week. We're playing everybody ahead of us, starting with Denver Tuesday night. It's gonna come down to head-to-heads. Frankly I'm amazed we're even in the playoff hunt. DJ and Austin are the only actual Clippers we put on the floor anymore. [Wes Johnson doesn't really count.]

31-27 is already a miracle.

Clippers’ Austin Rivers says next game vs. Nuggets is biggest of the year

Clippers point guard Austin Rivers wants to take full advantage of Tuesday’s opportunity at Pepsi Center.

“Up to this point, I think as this stretch goes on, it just seems like each game is going to be bigger and bigger. So thus far, this is the biggest game of year for us is this Denver game,” Rivers said on Monday. “And then I’m sure next week I’ll be talking about a different team because these are teams we’re fighting with for the playoffs.”

The 25-year old point guard is still keeping his goals realistic and remains aware that gaining a bunch of ground in the standings to teams like the Houston Rockets is out of the question.

“A lot of people are talking about the Rockets game but they’re at the top of the West. We’re not going to catch the Rockets.

Austin Rivers
We’re trying to catch the Nuggets and the Pelicans,” Rivers said. “These are the teams that we are really trying to fight for and beat, so this is a big game for us.”

Rivers remains hungry as ever to play to the best of his ability and is prepared for a fight to the finish.

“Yeah, as a competitor. Obviously, you don’t want to be in this position. You’d like to be six or seven games safe but right now, the Thunder just dropped to seventh,” Rivers said. “That’s crazy, so it’s going to be a dogfight. Everyone is trying to get in, so we’ll see.”

[Dynamix]

Yeah, we should definitely try and get a win in Denver. Not feeling too optimistic about facing the fully healthy Rockets the very next night. They are down 0-2 against us and we all know how that last game at Staples went. They're also coming off back-to-back road wins against Denver and Utah.

One game at a time, boys!

[Dynamix]

Well, our first stretch is over, now the real fun begins. We did as well as could be expected, with a great win in Denver to make up for that heartbreaker at home against the Pelicans.

Here's a helpful remaining schedule picture, courtesy of the GB:


- My money was (and kind of still is) on the Wolves to slip after losing Butler, but they just got two big wins against GS (who played like garbage) and @WAS. We'll see if they can keep it up.
- I was sure Denver would take care of business, especially after getting Millsap back, but they are struggling heavily on the road, with a 7-game trip coming up.
- Spurs need Kawhi to return soon and be at his best, otherwise they're a lock to miss the playoffs.
- I still refuse to believe that OKC doesn't make it, but you look at their schedule and start to wonder. Also George went out last night with a groin injury.
- Pelicans are another team that I was expecting to slip but just kept winning. Despite a few injury scares, Davis has been absolutely amazing, and he'll need to keep doing it every night.

As for us, we need to be smart and pick our battles. Maybe we don't win in Houston, but let's go hard against OKC. A win at home against Portland would be nice. We then go on a tough trip to Minnesota, Milwaukee (b2b), Indiana, and Toronto. We need to be 2-2 there. The Bucks at home is a must win, just like the trip to Phoenix afterwards. A loss at Portland would end our month on a sour note, but we can then focus on the upcoming homestand, with a fun game in Salt Lake thrown in just to mix things up.


My win-wishlist would be: @OKC, POR, @MIN, @IND, MIL, @PHO, IND, SA, DEN, NO, LAL. That's 11/16, for a grand total of 48 wins. We could get away with 9/16 or even 8/16, as long as those extra losses aren't all against our direct competition.

P.S. Hopefully we can get Gallo back sooner rather than later. Also, I believe that Ty and CJ will be able to rejoin the team starting March 24th, so from Toronto onwards.

[Wammy Giveaway]

An advantage game is when the Clippers and their playoff opponents play their games on the same day with positioning on the line. The objective of an advantage game is for your team to win theirs and hope for your opponents to lose, gaining extra spacing between you and your opponents for tiebreaker purposes. These games are urgent because they can effect the Clipper's playoff fate in that a win could put you back into the playoffs if you're out of the bracket, or a loss could knock you out of the bracket if you're currently in it.

I have a theory in that the Clippers lose their advantage games more often than win. Someone on Clipperholics will be researching this. It won't be enough to just feast on lottery teams to maintain their eligibility. They must defeat a top seeded playoff opponent, such as the Rockets who they'll encounter on the road this week. Clippers cannot afford to fall into any traps, either.

We also have to assume the worst. Danilo Gallinari could be out for the season. That will make it THREE Clippers out. No team in NBA history has ever had this number of players declared out for the season. A third done player is basically a kiss of death.

[Clemenza]

Hoping we can get Ty back on this team before the year is out somehow

[esqtvd]

Also, I believe that Ty and CJ will be able to rejoin the team starting March 24th, so from Toronto onwards.

Dynamix is correct. We can have them for our last 10 games.

When the G League season ends March 24, they can rejoin the Clippers, but they would become playoff-eligible only with a rest-of-season contract or new deal.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22004013/following-la-clipper-cj-williams-two-way-journey-g-league-nba

[Ranma]

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

???

Read on Twitter

[Dynamix]

Pat Bev Early Return Hype or is he just having some fun?

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

[donemilio21]

good to see Beverly on the floor. I doubt he'll return this season though.

[Dynamix]

Meanwhile, it seems that our medical staff is trying to fix a broken hand with some good ol' hopes and prayers.

http://thesportsdaily.com/go-clips-go/exclusive-danillo-gallinari-addresses-his-injury/

We caught up with Danilo Gallinari before yesterday’s Clipper game against the Bucks, where he spoke at length about his injury. The truth seems to be a lot bleaker than all the previous reports. Gallinari said he won’t play against Phoenix, but that he hopes to play against Portland on Friday. However, he stated there’s a risk of re-injuring his hand if he had any contact, and that he would be playing through pain. He stated his hand is at a 6 or 7 out of 10, and that he feels uncomfortable shooting.

Did he even wear a brace for an extended period? Should he have been shooting in practice if it still hurts after a month? I hope at the very least someone told him not to go bowling.

[Roscoe Sheed]

In fairness to the training staff, Gallinari would probably need a month to recover from a hang nail. I really like his game, but man is he injury prone

[MartinToVaught]

This is getting ridiculous. Everyone involved just needs to be honest and tell us that Gallo's out for the season. Don't keep saying he's "questionable for the next game" or "coming back soon." Don't rush him back only for him to reaggravate the injury. If his hand hasn't healed to the point where he can shoot comfortably or play through any contact, he's not ready to play. This routine from our medical staff every time there's an injury has become so old, it's not even funny.

When is Ballmer going to wake up and replace the medical staff? They should have been fired after they cost Blake an entire season by misdiagnosing and mistreating his injury.

[Galloisdaman]

Having pain in a shooting hand or wrist is really hard to deal with but if Gallo feels he can help in anyway I'm sure he will try to give it a shot despite the pain.

[Dynamix]

Huge props to THE JOKER for keeping these updated over the last month.



Not much left to say. The tough stretch pretty much killed our playoff hopes, but we grabbed just enough wins (combined with a few shock losses from our competition) to somehow still be in it. Now we either need to go 6-0 or 5-1 and hope that someone in front of us loses 4 of their remaining games. Piece of cake, right?

[esqtvd]

2 games behind the Pelicans and Utah and we play them both

Pelicans have the tougher schedule and we play them head-to-head at Staples

just need a little help and take care of business ourselves


frankly, I'm cool whether we make it or not
just go out fighting

[RonMexico915]

2 games behind the Pelicans and Utah and we play them both

Pelicans have the tougher schedule and we play them head-to-head at Staples

just need a little help and take care of business ourselves


frankly, I'm cool whether we make it or not
just go out fighting

I agree. I would like to play GSW this year. Seem a little vulnerable this year. Even though we've done well against Houston, I think they would smoke us in the playoffs.