Forget the spin from the Clippers. From just about any angle but their own, it was clear that they tried to avoid tussling with the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs by ending the regular season with defeats to the lowly Rockets and Thunder. Which is just fine; after all, they want to go deep in the playoffs, and if taking two steps back is what they need to do in order to forge three ahead, then well and good. In the highly competitive Western Conference, any move that can get them a leg up against the opposition is a welcome one.
There was just one problem with the Clippers’ plan, however: They severely underestimated the capacity of the Mavericks to keep pace with them. And they shouldn’t have, really. For one thing, they didn’t just lose the regular season series one and two against Rick Carlisle’s charges; in so doing, they emerged with a minus-57 aggregate. For another, they stood to face red-hot competition that went 12 and four prior to dropping a meaningless match heading into the playoffs. Staying confident is one thing. Harboring irrational self-assurance is quite another.
True, the Clippers are loaded. As hobbled as Kawhi Leonard may be, he remains one of the National Basketball Association’s best players and proven postseason beast. And he just so happens to be backstopped by fellow All-Star Paul George, a deep roster, and an excellent coaching staff led by 2016 champion Tyronn Lue. On the other hand, they’re also troubled by a past they can’t seem to overcome. There’s no such thing as being snakebitten, but they come close to proving it; including last year’s playoffs, in which they suffered debilitating setbacks in three consecutive would-be clinchers to crash out of the conference semifinals, they’re embarrassed owners of a five-game losing streak.
Which, in a nutshell, is why the Clippers need to do the improbable if they want to retain a modicum of the respect they feel they’ve already earned in a city that will always deem them second best. They need to win four of the next five contests against the Mavericks, three at the capacity-crowd American Airlines Arena. They need to contain Luka Dončić, much easier said than done despite the reputations of Leonard and George as lockdown defenders. And, above all else, they need to exceed themselves by, well, not being themselves.
The good news is that the Clippers have two more days to plan their comeback. They know what’s at stake, and it’s far more than merely the best-of-seven affair. There’s a reason they’re in the Lakers’ shadow, and there’s a reason they can’t seem to escape it. Needless to say, they will have to address these reasons, and fast. Else, all they will have done in the end is validate why they’re carrying excess baggage, and why Leonard would just as soon carry his own out the door when free agency beckons in July.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.