However it shakes out, this much is certain: LeBron James will go up against longtime postseason nemesis IN, or his close friend Dwyane Wade, or his former Heat team IN the opening round.
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Neither is the momentum they’re riding.
Utah snapped Golden State’s 14-game winning streak Monday night with a 105-99 victory. Also, the Jazz have lost three of four games against the Clippers this year, which indicates that Los Angeles is well-equipped to handle Utah in the postseason.
Last season, 8 staff members picked the Clippers in 6 games, 6 picked the Clippers in 5 games, 2 predicted an LAC sweep, 1 picked Clippers in 7, and 1 picked Blazers in 7.
Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich also pulled his starters in the final quarter with the team maintaining their second seed in the west win or lose. “I think when you go through it, you always say, ‘When we come out on the other side, we’ll be better for it.’ But I truly believe we are”.
“Missing that many games and with a hamstring it will be tough for him whenever he does come back”, said Rivers who expects his son to be back around Games 3 and 4 in Salt Lake City.
“This team has grown a lot”, Blake Griffin said.
The Clippers survived a combined 42 games without Griffin and Chris Paul, going 19-23 in their absence.
The Jazz don’t often get to savor big wins, and when they do it’s against a top-tier team playing at roughly 60 percent. The most interesting will be the battle in the paint between big men DeAndre Jordon and Rudy Gobert.
Their sense of urgency may never be greater.
“This is what we play for”, added Griffin about the playoffs. Jordan shot a career-high 71 percent from the floor, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in National Basketball Association history to top 70 percent in a season. Averaging 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game, Beverley ranks second on the team in assists and steals, while sitting third in rebounds and three-point field goal percentage at 38.2 percent. JJ Redick is averaging 15.0 points per game but the Clippers’ weakness is probably their lack of depth so it’ll be up to Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers and Marreese Speights to provide the scoring punch off the bench. “We don’t really care”, Jazz guard Shelvin Mack said of the playoff seeding. The last time the Warriors rested Thompson, it was a part of a statement that Kerr made at the end of an eight-game stretch in which Golden State played in eight different cities.
Here’s how to watch the opening-round series between the Clippers and Jazz (all times Eastern; *-if necessary). He could return soon. The Kings finish 32-50, one win fewer than in 2015-16 and now have 11 consecutive losing seasons.
While they can’t change their painful past, they recognize it and clearly want to get past it.
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The Clippers showed a tribute video for Paul Pierce during the game’s final timeout.
