Photo: nba.com
The Los Angeles Clippers become the first team to clinch a playoff spot that didn’t win their division. They are second to only the Golden State Warriors in the Pacific Division.
They are 45-27, giving them a .625 win percentage and in 4th in the West. This is their fifth straight playoff berth. They have advanced from the first round in three of the last four seasons, but never to the Conference Semifinals.
Clippers PG Chris Paul and PF Blake Griffin have led their team to success. Paul has an average of 20.0 points, 9.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game while Blake has 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and .8 blocks per game despite being sidelined since Christmas and a whopping 41 games with a torn quad and now serving a 4 game suspension after an altercation in Toronto in January after a fight with a team employee in which he suffered a hand fracture. Center DeAndre Jordan has also held his own, with 12.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game.
The Clippers are a contender, but it wont be easy. If they hold the 4th seed, they will probably play Memphis or Portland, but then play 1st seed Golden State if they win.
-Tyler Ohmann
SportsPress 