No. 1 biggest rival for the LA Clippers in 2021-22: Los Angeles Lakers
The LA Clippers will be playing the Lakers for bragging rights in this city.
After sweeping the Lakers last year, the Clippers look to take care of them again this season. We play them four times this year, and don’t play them until December 3rd.
It’s similar to the situation with the Suns in that I don’t expect Leonard to be back by then, but Ibaka should definitely be playing. We were so much better than the Lakers last year, and will be a bit healthier this year.
We never want to play without Kawhi, but we’ll have 22 games before we play the Lakers for the first time to get acclimated to playing without Leonard.
That should be enough time, as we already made the Western Conference Finals without Kawhi. We should be able to handle the challenge again. The Lakers got better this offseason by trading for Russell Westbrook, but it shouldn’t impact the Clippers’ chances in the West this season.
They’re the better team. They were last year, and they will continue to be in Year 2 under Lue. The Clippers have some tough rivals, but can absolutely hang with all of them.