Los Angeles Clippers face the Indiana Pacers in a must win game
By Rick Devine
The Los Angeles Clippers head to Indiana to play the Pacers today at 4pm Our heroes look to take care of business and put one in the win column to keep playoff hopes alive.
Just when you thought it was safe to say the word tank, the Los Clippers have to go and win a game like that…and totally redeem themselves!
Yes, after a 4 game losing streak, when hope seemed lost, our Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 127-120 on Wednesday night after the team had a players only meeting reported by Broderick Turner of the LA times.
He quoted Austin Rivers:
"“I was just like, ‘If we’re going to go out, we’re going to go out together. If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose together. If we’re going to win, we’re going to win together. No more bickering. No more, we need to do this. No more questioning each other, the coaches, whoever. We’ve got to be one team, one unit, playing with high energy and compete. Let’s play harder than the other team and then if they beat us, you tip your hat to them. But no more of this … losing team kind of mind-set. That’s what losing teams have. We’re not one of those teams.’“"
Wow, that sure sounds like a team that hasn’t given up yet. They couldn’t possibly come back from this metaphorical 4th quarter deficit…could they?
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Let’s focus on the game at hand. The Indiana Pacers. They are a real surprise of a team this year, currently sitting 5th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 41-31. Most counted them out after their former star player, Paul George, did one of those current fashionable Twitter trade demands, and Pacers for it inherited Victor Oladipo, yes that freshly crowned All Star Victor Oladipo, who is averaging 23.3 points per game. He’s a different player then we last saw playing second banana to Russell Westbrook last year.
The rest of the team is made up of Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner, and former Clippers Darren Collison and Lance “will make ya dance” Stephenson who some would argue is having a comeback season, but I’d say he’s averaging 9 points in 22 minutes per game and then I’d put a shrug emoji.
Here’s the deal. This is a game the Clippers need to win. It’s either win or pack it in and grab the golf clubs. Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “draftpick”. Sure, I get it, but I’m the eternal optimist, I side with Austin Rivers. Sure we might lose one again in the next twelve, but we need to win the ones we should win. Do that and I still believe in a possible playoff berth.
We haven’t seen the Pacers yet this season but we see them another time in this 12 game final stretch and I believe them to be beatable foes, sure it’s another “big game” but if it goes well it could be a good sign of two easy Wins. The ball tips at 4pm Pacific, join me on this hype train of hope won’t you?
Go Clippers.