2014-15 Clippers #NBASchedule: 10 Must-See Games

Mar 26, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) scramble for a loose ball during the fourth quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Clippers 98-96. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

December 6th vs. New Orleans Pelicans

2013-14 Season Series: LAC 3 – 1 NOP

Of the ten teams mentioned on this list, only the Kings are a worse team than the Pelicans. And unlike the Kings, there’s no rivalry between LA and NO which would make some think that this is a typical, everyday matchup, but I see the opposite: Anthony Davis is coming and it’s unclear if the rest of the world is ready for his arrival.

The rest of the Pelicans are cool: Jrue Holiday is one of the better young point guards in the game, Eric Gordon returning to LA is always cool because fans get to see apart of the future that was avoided thanks to the Chris Paul trade, Tyreke Evans exists, Omer Asik is a healthy addition, Ryan Anderson is the power forward Doc Rivers has been searching for and the Austin Rivers-Doc thing is a thing… but the real draw here is Davis.

Ask anyone who they think is the best power forward in the NBA is. They likely say Blake Griffin or Kevin Love, but the answer always comes with an advisory claimer: Anthony Davis will soon hold the torch. He’s Kevin Garnett on steroids (there’s nothing guaranteed about potential and for the NBA’s sake they should hope he doesn’t pan out).

There’s a Byron Mullens outside shot of a chance that these two teams meet in the playoffs if the Pelicans overachieve and a few expected playoff teams fall off. No one’s banking on that happening as it’d be awesome, so we’ll take the regular visits of Anthony Davis as a sweet consolation prize.