April 1st: Clippers Sitting in Top-Three Battle w/ Houston and Lakers
As expected, the Clippers have already eclipsed 50+ wins with a 54-24 record, which also means they have eclipsed their win total from last season.
Let’s look at the standings with just a handful of games remaining.
- x – Houston : 54-23
- x – LA Clippers : 54-24
- x – LA Lakers : 53-24
- x – Denver : 46-30
- x – Golden State : 44-32
- x – Utah : 44-33
- OKC : 43-34
- San Antonio : 41-36
- Minnesota : 38-39
- New Orleans : 36-42
The top six spots have been taken but seeding is far from over as the Clippers could very well be the 1st seed if they handle business against Houston and the Lakers before facing Golden State and Utah. Let’s see how the Clippers did in those games.
The Clippers handled business on their home floor, taking over the top spot in the West. Kawhi and Lou dropped 24 points each while PG added 21. Westbrook and Harden were held to a combined 47 points on 13-29 shooting.
A big 2nd and 3rd quarter saw the Clippers up 23 at one point(no flashbacks I promise) and they handled their business. The matchup with the Lakers now becomes much bigger, so lets see if the Clippers stand up to the test.
Again the Clippers win by double-digits and open the gap even more on the Lakers and Rockets, leading the Lakers by 1.0 games and the Rockets by 2.0 games.
Lou dropped 33 points in the victory while PG and Kawhi added 42 combined. LeBron and AD were held to a combined 25 points and the Lakers shot 27% from beyond the arc and 69% at the free throw line. A 28-14 4th quarter for the Clippers saw them pull away and likely lock up the top seed in the conference. Let’s see if they did just that.