It’s never a great feeling for any NBA basketball team to blow a lead of any kind but some sting worse than others. For the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers, coughing up a 19-point lead to the 76ers should hopefully be a wake-up call. On a night where the return of star Black Griffin should’ve been the headline, it instead casts more doubt on the scuffling Clippers. Guard Austin Rivers was particularly upset following the loss.
“We was up 19 man. We’re supposed to squash them, go up 20-something. They kept fighting, they kept doing what they’re supposed to. Everybody knows that’s their M.O., man. They don’t have the talent we have, they don’t have the talent other teams have so they bank everything on playing hard. They outwork teams, and that’s what they do. They have a lot of guys out there who play as hard as possible. Credit to them, it’s working for them.”
Granted, Philadelphia is playing some excellent basketball of late and now ranks in the top ten in defensive efficiency but also did not have their best player in Joel Embiid, so Rivers is somewhat correct. The Clippers are a team expected to contend with the likes of Golden State and San Antonio for the Western Conference championship and hacking up a 19 point lead is unacceptable. Los Angeles has dropped three of their last four and are in danger of falling to fifth in the Western Conference, behind the surging Utah Jazz.
Griffin’s return should start to stabilize the Clippers’ rotations and give them more star power for when times get tough, but health continues to be a huge barrier for this team. Chris Paul’s hand injury is much more devastating, and the team will have to rely on the likes of Rivers and Raymond Felton for the foreseeable future. Bad losses in January and February sometimes have a way of rearing their ugly heads in March and April when playoff races heat up.
