The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns on Sunday to set up a first-round clash between these sides in the playoffs, but it doesn’t seem to be a matchup they wanted.
Towards the end of the contest, cameras caught head coach Tyronn Lue asking for the score in the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New Orleans Pelicans.
“What’s the score of that game?”
“Minnesota is up 1.”
Clippers were thinking about *it* pic.twitter.com/oz0NvClwJq
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 9, 2023
The outcome of that game had some serious implications in terms of the Clippers’ seeding. If the Pelicans had won and the Clippers had lost, then L.A. would have dropped down to the seventh seed. On the other hand, if the Timberwolves had won, then a Clippers loss would see them only drop to sixth, which would mean they avoided the play-in and a matchup with the Suns in the first round, which was the best-case scenario.
There is no way to know for sure whether the Clippers really wanted to avoid the Suns or not. The Timberwolves-Pelicans game going down to the wire meant they couldn’t take the risk of perhaps settling for a loss to the Suns, as avoiding the play-in would have been their top priority. The Timberwolves ultimately won 113-108, which meant the Clippers would have been better off losing, but they couldn’t have risked it.
Can The Clippers Beat The Suns?
The Suns are the favorites to win the title in the eyes of many, including Jalen Rose, and they remain undefeated with Kevin Durant in the starting lineup. It is certainly going to be very difficult for the Clippers to win this series, and the task gets even harder if Paul George is not available.
NBA insider Shams Charania reported last month that George would only be able to return for the second round of the playoffs, which is a big blow if true. PG will soon give an update regarding his status on his podcast and Clippers fans would be hoping that he can play some role in this series, as they really don’t stand much of a chance if he doesn’t feature at all.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
