LA Clippers get their first loss out of the way
Since beating the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in their first two games of the season, a lot of people have already begun talking about crowing the LA Clippers as the champions of the league. Regardless of how ridiculous that is, it does set the standard for how the Clippers should be performing. That, in turn, leads to the creation of expectations, and so on.
No one saw this loss to the Phoenix Suns coming. But in some ways, it’s good that it happened.
In doing so, the Clippers got their first loss of the season out of the way early.
That has to relieve some pressure.
Rather than worrying about when the first loss would come and having fans and analysts alike making it a major talking point (a la the 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors that started the year 24-0), the Clippers can focus completely on the next game on the schedule.
These Clippers now understand what it feels like to lose together, too — which is just as important as knowing what it feels like to win together.
We saw how resilient this squad was last season. Save for a five-game losing streak in January, the Clippers rarely lost consecutive games.
Kawhi Leonard embodies a similar personality — and it’s hard to imagine this Clippers team would drop their next game after a loss like this, which comes against the Charlotte Hornets Monday night.
So long as they take the season one game at a time and remain focused, nights like these won’t be a common occurrence.
The LA Clippers will get Sunday off before taking on the Charlotte Hornets Monday night at STAPLES Center. Charlotte will play against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, so the Clippers should have a comfortable rest advantage before suiting up against the Hornets.