The Los Angeles Clippers come from a very disappointing season after they shockingly lost a 3-1 deficit against the Denver Nuggets in the Orlando bubble. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led their team to do the unthinkable twice in a row and the Clippers were their second victims.
They were having a great moment but then things fell apart in Games 5 and 6, where they lost big advantages and their games, ultimately losing the series in a more than disappointing Game 7. A lot of people blame the bubble itself for the Clippers fiasco. They didn’t want to be there and never felt comfortable in Orlando so their defeat was “announced”. That said, some people believe they would have had a different fate if they played at home.
In recent days, Paul Pierce, a former Clipper, claimed that had they play at home, the result would have been very different for the Clips and the Nuggets. During an intervention on ESPN’s The Jump, Pierce made the case for his former team. However, Matt Barnes was there to clarify that the Clippers had already blown a 3-1 lead at home while he was part of the team.
Paul Pierce: “Are you telling me the Clippers that up 3-1 in the series in front of their home crowd do they give their lead up? I don’t think so, not that crowd. That’s a tough adjustment to make for the players.”
Matt Barnes: “Paul we did, we gave up a 3-1 lead.”
Barnes had a point with that remark. The Clippers did give up a 3-1 lead in front of the Houston Rockets in 2015. After winning one of the best playoffs series in recent times against the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers landed in the second round, taking a 3-1 advantage over the Rockets.
They won three straight games, marking the first time the Clips lost this advantage in the past five years and the second one that Doc Rivers lost a 3-1 advantage in his career. Barnes was part of that team so he knows very well what he’s talking about.
