The LA Clippers’ perfect playoff picture in the West probably looks like this.
With teams starting to get locked in for their playoff seeding, we have to start thinking about what each round will look like for the LA Clippers. There are still a few scenarios that are possible, so let’s take a look at what the team’s perfect playoff bracket will look like.
First Round
Since homecourt advantage doesn’t particularly matter in the bubble, all the Clippers need to do is hang on to either the two or three seed. In order to do this, all they need to do is beat Denver in their next game. It’s really that easy. If not, things get a lot more complicated. But let’s just assume the standings stay as-is. That’s ideal anyway, right?
We also have to root for the Blazers to take the eighth seed in the 8/9 series that will likely happen.
In the first round, the matchups would look like this:
- Lakers (1) vs. Trail Blazers (8)
- Rockets (4) vs. Thunder (5)
- Clippers (2) vs. Mavericks (7)
- Nuggets (3) vs. Jazz (6)
Realistic, Perfect, and Likely
The realistic outcome has the Lakers, Rockets, Clippers, and Nuggets all advancing. There are possible chances for upsets, especially in the Rockets/Thunder series but logic would say the higher seeds all advance.
The perfect outcome obviously has upsets across the board. The Trail Blazers have a tiny, tiny chance of upsetting the Lakers and if Dame continues to go off and the Blazers can slow down LeBron James even a little, it could happen.
Obviously, though, that likely not to happen. Mixing the realistic and perfect scenarios, we get something plausible. Sure, the top seeds probably all advance but each series goes at least six games. The Blazers give the Lakers a good deal of trouble. The Rockets and Thunder go back and forth in a fun series. The Nuggets and Jazz do the same. The Clippers may even need five or six depending on if Luka Doncic can singlehandedly win the Mavs a game or two.
On to the second round.