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The LA Clippers are now “officially” championship contenders

By Ryan Snellings

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 18: Limited capacity fans attend a basketball game between Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center on April 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. It has been over a year since fans have gathered at the Staples Center due to the coronavirus pandemic. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 18: Limited capacity fans attend a basketball game between Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center on April 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. It has been over a year since fans have gathered at the Staples Center due to the coronavirus pandemic. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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The LA Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in dominating fashion on Sunday night, 124-105 in a game that didn’t feel that close. While the win was impressive in that everyone seemed to be clicking, it wasn’t the quality for once but instead the quantity.

The win marked the Clippers’ 40th of the season, making them the third team (Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz) to hit that mark this season. With that win, they reached 40 wins before 20 losses. What does that mean?

The LA Clippers are now “officially” championship contenders.

There are a lot of unofficial official rules in sports. In the NBA, we have things like “Ball don’t lie” on the court. One of the lesser talked about “rules”, however, is Phil Jackson’s belief that an elite team must win 40 games before they lose 20.

When Phil dropped that nugget of wisdom back in 2008, his Los Angeles Lakers had just accomplished that. While they didn’t win the championship, the Boston Celtics that did win also accomplished 40 wins before 20 losses. Apparently, that has pretty much been the case throughout the past 30+ seasons.

An article from 2018 broke down the past 30 years of champions and of those, only four teams did not reach the 40 win mark before 20 losses. One of those, the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs, only did not because of a shortened season but were well on pace at 37-13.

Further digging shows that since that article, all three champions (2017-18 Golden State Warriors, 2018-19 Toronto Raptors, and 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers) all also met the requirements.

Obviously, this isn’t a hard rule and just because the LA Clippers hit that mark doesn’t mean they will win the championship. As mentioned, two teams in the West have already reached that point and two teams in the East still have a chance to as well – the Philadelphia 76ers at 39-17 and the Brooklyn Nets at 38-19.

What it does signify, however, is that this Clippers team is built to win. Despite injuries having plagued the entire roster all season, the group has still found ways to string together victories. Everything appears to be clicking, as evidenced by Sunday’s win, and when this team gets fully healthy, they have a deep roster that can threaten anyone.

Next. One advantage over all possible first-round matchups. dark

We’ll see if Phil Jackson is right again but assuming he is, we just hope that it will be the LA Clippers again proving his theory correct.

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