No easy answers for Clips after collapse
Pushed by the Nuggets again in a Western Conference semifinal, the Clippers saw their commanding 3-1 series lead disappear in a run of missed shots, missed stops and missed opportunities that revealed that their inconsistency was still present months later. They flexed their championship potential while building leads of 16, 19 and 12 points against the Nuggets in the series’ final three games. They also looked helpless when Denver began its rallies.
“They ran into a real team that played together, not in spite of each other,” said one league executive.
The earlier-than-predicted exit keeps the franchise from realizing its stated goal of claiming a championship and leaves them watching as the rival Los Angeles Lakers continue to pursue their own.
A lack of chemistry was repeatedly cited by players after Game 7 as a key factor in why they fell short when their sheer talent failed to overwhelm opponents.
“We start missing shots and you can see us trusting less and less and less,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean, listen, obviously I could have done something more.”
Meshing proved more difficult than expected as players’ roles changed after the arrivals of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
“You go from last year, we were the team that wasn’t expected to make the playoffs to going and being a championship-caliber team when you bring in two highlevel guys, that’s an adjustment,” Lou Williams said.
Despite the Clippers’ early exit, their roster is still top-loaded with talent and expected to be among the top contenders in the West next season. The league executive believed the Clippers would bring back much of the same team into 2021, calling it the course he would take, as well. The Clippers can use a midlevel exception in free agency.
“Running it back is great, but the Clippers are beatable,” the executive said. “They need a point guard. They’ve got to get one. They need better chemistry. They’ve got to do a better job scheming and adjusting.”