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5 Reasons The Los Angeles Clippers Can Win It All

By Gerald Bourguet

May 10, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) reacts after a dunk against Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) in game three of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Rockets 128-95 to take a 3-1 lead. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) reacts after a dunk against Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) in game three of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. The Clippers defeated the Rockets 128-95 to take a 3-1 lead. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and guard Chris Paul (3) hug after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game seven of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center. Clippers won 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

5. The Confidence Factor

In that brutal seven-game series against the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers rose to the occasion. CP3 and Griffin have often taken a beating from their critics for wilting under the pressure of the playoffs, but they were both phenomenal in that first round. Griffin “quietly” averaged a monstrous 24-13-7 statline while Paul followed up with a 23-8-5 stat line.

CP3 also just so happened to make the decisive play of Game 7, a game-winner with one second on the clock to permanently dispel the idiotic notion that he’s “not clutch” in the playoffs:

The kicker? He was working all that magic playing on a strained quad that kept him out of the Clippers’ first two games of the semis.

Even after losing in the first round, the 2014-15 San Antonio Spurs might go down as one of the toughest sixth seeds in NBA history. They were the defending champs and beating the Spurs in the playoffs, no matter what year we’re talking about, is a rite of passage in some way.

Think about it. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Spurs in 2012 and went to the NBA Finals that season. Steve Nash‘s Phoenix Suns teams rarely triumphed over the Spurs in the postseason, but they were one Ron Artest buzzer-beater away from possibly making an NBA Finals run in 2010 after sweeping San Antonio in the conference semifinals.

When the Los Angeles Lakers won the second and third titles of their three-peat in the early 2000s, they went through Tim Duncan and company both times. Beating such a perennial powerhouse gives teams an undeniable edge of destiny to their season. The Clippers may have already beaten their toughest competition in these playoffs and the team is playing with confidence.

How else to do explain nearly beating the Rockets twice with Chris Paul sidelined for both games, let alone the fact that they’re up 3-1 and seem likely to close in Game 5?

Next: No. 4

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