LA Clippers are Set Up for Success in the Second Half
The LA Clippers are almost through the first half of the season, and we should feel pretty good about their performance so far. They sit at 23-10, second in the Western Conference and half a game above the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the surface, it may seem like the race for the Pacific Division is a dead heat between the two LA teams, but I think the second half of the season is going to show that the LA Clippers are the premiere team of the division.
The second half of the season will be very friendly to the LA Clippers.
The LA Clippers can expect an easier schedule moving forward. By ESPN’s metrics, they’ve faced the 9th hardest schedule so far (for comparison, if you’re interested, the Los Angeles Lakers have faced the 3rd easiest schedule).
There are some friendly parts of the second half that, if their health is good, we can hope to rack up several wins. For instance, in mid-March there’s a stretch where the Clips play the Pelicans, then the Mavs twice, then the Hornets, then the Hawks, then the Spurs twice. With good health, and if the LA Clippers lock in, those could all be wins.
Similarly, in April, there’s a Houston-Detroit-Indiana-Detroit-Philadelphia-Minnesota-Portland-Memphis-Houston-New Orleans run. Outside of Philadelphia, the Clips will be solidly favored in all of those games.
I’m not guaranteeing a win in all of them, of course. In the doldrums of the season, sometimes weird losses happen and a team like New Orleans sneaks up on you. But at the same time, if the LA Clippers want to set themselves apart and make their claim that they could be the best team in the West, pulling 15 wins out of those two runs combined would go a long way.
Next. Paul George is right about the All-Star Game. dark
In a way, the second half of the season will be one of the biggest tests for the team. We’ve seen them get up for the biggest matches, but can Ty Lue keep the team ready for a Detroit Pistons game in the middle of April? I think they will, and I think the coming schedule is very favorable for the LA Clippers.