The LA Clippers will endure a gauntlet schedule to begin the season
Fans are feeling pretty confident about their LA Clippers, but the team will endure one of their toughest opening schedules to date to begin the season.
In a Western Conference where every game counts, the LA Clippers find themselves in a precarious spot to start the season. Already at 0-1 after a loss to the Denver Nuggets, the team’s road does not get any easier. If the team wants to make the playoffs, they will need to pick up some wins while facing elite competition.
Of their next fifteen games, the Clippers face only three teams who did not make the playoffs – The Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. Those will be must-win types of games, especially after fighting through this gauntlet.
During the fifteen game stretch, LA gets the Oklahoma City Thunder twice (the first of which is on Saturday), the Houston Rockets twice, the New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwovles, Portland Trailblazers, Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors.
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You read that right. There are nine games against the Western Conference playoff teams of last year.
Last season against teams at .500 or above, the Clippers finished 16-33. While they may not have to do a ton better, assuming they stay on their 26-7 pace against teams below .500, in order to make the playoffs they will have to do a lot better. The team missed making the postseason by just five games, so pulling off 20-25 wins against teams above .500 would be ideal.
This tough stretch to start the year will put the team’s toughness to the test. Should they do poorly, winning only a handful of games, fans will likely call for trades and movement. But let’s remember one thing. This season is a re-tooling season and while LA claims they intent to make the playoffs, everyone knows the real goal is having everything in place to make a free agency run in the summer of 2019.
How do you think the Clippers will do over the next few weeks? Let us know your record prediction on Twitter and keep checking back here for all your Los Angeles Clippers coverage!