LA Clippers: Who gives the best matchup for the NBA Finals?

If the LA Clippers make it to the NBA Finals, it’s clear who their preferred opponent would be.

The two teams remaining in the Eastern Conference are the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The two will play their first game of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight at 5:30 PM PT.

LA Clippers fans should be rooting for the Atlanta Hawks.

The LA Clippers played both squads twice in the regular season. They split their season series with both of them. So, it’s hard to judge the opponents by how they fared vs. the Clippers in the regular season.

It is fair, though, to acknowledge the fact that the Hawks have much less playoff experience than the Clippers.

Only five Hawks had been to the NBA Playoffs prior to this year. That would be Solomon Hill, Danilo Gallinari, Tony Snell, Clint Capela, and former Clipper Lou Williams. Not one of those players has ever won an NBA title.

For the Clippers, every single non-rookie on the team has played in the postseason prior to this year, two have won multiple championships (Kawhi Leonard and Rajon Rondo), and Serge Ibaka has won a championship too.

Sure, Ibaka won’t be playing, but injured veterans can still help the team through leadership roles, and I expect Ibaka to find a way to impact the team like that should the Clips reach the Finals. Even if Kawhi Leonard doesn’t play, he’s already made an impact on the team through his leadership from afar.

Over a 72-game sample size (regular season), the Bucks were the much better team than the Hawks. Their 46-26 win-loss record achieved a top three seed for them, where as the Hawks and their 41-31 record earned them the fifth seed in the conference.

I’d rather not take the team that’s won more consistently this year over a large sample size, which is obviously the Bucks. The Bucks just beat the Brooklyn Nets in a series, who are arguably the  most talented team in the NBA.

The Hawks have a problem that I think the Clippers could do a great job exploiting, and that’s how they can be one-dimensional sometimes on offense. When watching the Hawks, it feels like the ‘Trae Young Show’ at times. He’s the only All-Star caliber player on their team.

When the Dallas Mavericks tried to play the Luka Doncic Show, the Clippers made the right adjustments and were able to contain Luka. When Tim Hardaway Jr. cooled off and Kristaps Porzingis couldn’t get anything going, the Clippers came out on top. The Clippers are too good defensively to try to be one-dimensional against them.

Sure, there are Hawks players that have stepped up in big moments throughout this postseason, but there’s no way anybody can tell me the Clippers can’t handle the likes of Kevin Huerter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, John Collins, or their other role-type players.

The Hawks are a great team, and it would be foolish to sell them short, but it’s a different beast when going up against a two-time NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, multiple-time All-Star Khris Middleton, lockdown defender Jrue Holiday and the rest of the bunch.

The Clips would beat either team, but the Hawks are the better matchup for LA.