Los Angeles Clippers: Top Games To Watch In 2015-16

The NBA released each team’s schedules for next season this week and no team’s schedule was more intriguing than the one set for the Los Angeles Clippers.

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The NBA’ s schedule isn’t really that important considering it’s pretty much locked up for every season. It isn’t like the NFL or even college basketball, where fans aren’t exactly clear on who their favorite teams will play in a given season and how that will affect their team’s postseason chances.

We know how the NBA schedule works. Every team will play every other NBA team. There simply aren’t a lot of surprises for a team’s NBA schedules.

The only significant part of the release of the NBA’s schedule, besides the fact that we’re getting closer to the start of the NBA season, is the timing of the matchups. While every game means something and fans and players alike should be excited on any given night for their favorite team’s game, certain games just matter more. You’d be hard-pressed to find a team with more games that matter more than the Clippers.

Oct. 28, 2015: Clippers @ Kings

The matchup isn’t particularly interesting, but this night marks the beginning of what could be a historic season for the Los Angeles Clippers. It’s opening night for the Clippers and the first opportunity for this group of players to play an actual game together.

Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, and a few others will make their debut for the team and we’ll get our first look at how well they mesh with the team’s incumbent core. Also, we get a fun DeMarcus Cousins against DeAndre Jordan matchup. If you’re still stuck a few years in the past, you’re probably excited for a Rajon Rondo vs. Chris Paul matchup too.

Oct. 29, 2015: Mavericks @ Clippers
Nov. 11, 2015: Clippers @ Mavericks

Just one night after the season opener, the Clippers get their home opener against new rivals. DeAndre Jordan gets his first chance to face-off against the team he briefly agreed to sign with during the offseason and also against former buddy and dinner-date Chandler Parsons. This game would be a bit more fun if it were in Dallas to see the reaction he got from the Mavs fans, but there is probably a bit of bad blood between the franchises after the War of DeAndre. There will be emojis.

The Nov. 11 matchup is the first that we’ll see of Jordan in Dallas. Jordan is sure to hear it from the fans in the American Airlines Center after reneging on his word to sign with the Mavericks, costing them a franchise center while also losing out on any alternative big name free agents if Jordan would’ve just declined the Mavericks offer from the beginning.

Nov. 4, 2015: Clippers @ Warriors
Nov. 19, 2015: Warriors @ Clippers
Feb. 20, 2016: Warriors @ Clippers
Mar. 23, 2016: Clippers @ Warriors

That’s right. Every time the Clippers and Warriors face off against each other, it’s must-see TV for basketball fans.

The Clippers were one meltdown away from meeting the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals for the chance to go to the NBA Finals. This is the first matchup of the season for what could be a conference finals preview.

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In addition to it being a matchup of great basketball teams with two of the best point guards in the league, these teams just don’t like each other. How do we know? “We don’t like each other,” Andrew Bogut told Rusty Simmons of the SF Gate. “It’s kind of one of those throwback games from back in the day, when there were flagrants and technicals and all of that type of stuff.”

For a rivalry that is still a pretty new one, there are a lot of chapters in it already. If you want an excellent write-up on the history of the rivalry, check out Justin Russo’s coverage of it for Clips Nation, featuring this summary:

"There was David Lee telling Blake Griffin to “stop flopping”as well Kent Bazemore and the Warriors bench going nuts when Blake Griffin hit the side of the backboard on a corner three, Festus Ezeli grabbing onto Blake Griffin’s arm which resulted in Griffin falling hard, a scuffle at the end of their Christmas Day game this year, Blake Griffin having three straight fastbreak dunks which resulted in an iconic close-up of Mark Jackson, and Blake Griffin’s putback dunk earlier this year that woke up the entire arena."

That anecdote doesn’t even include the time Draymond Green was ejected for elbowing Blake Griffin in the neck, last year’s infamous Dahntay Jones bump to Green in a postgame interview, or the time that the teams broke tradition by not holding chapel together before a game.

The Clippers-Warriors rivalry of recent years is the most volatile matchup in the league. For fans who hate the buddy-buddy relationship that opponents have today, these are the games to watch. These teams don’t like each other and don’t waste time pretending to either.

Nov. 7, 2015: Rockets @ Clippers

The Clippers face the team that ended their season last year after losing a commanding 3-1 advantage in the series. I’d hate to call this a “revenge game” for the Clippers because even if they win, it doesn’t take away the fact that the Rockets beat them last season.

It is, however, a chance for the Clippers to make a statement that this team is different. This game should make an excellent matchup and gives Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan an opportunity to beat the team that put them out of the playoffs last season.

Dec. 18, 2015: Spurs @ Clippers

Remember last year’s first round matchup of title contenders? They’re back and better than ever.

The best playoff series of last season was the first round matchup between these two teams that sparked debates on if conferences should be abolished and if division titles should play a role in playoff seeding. Tim Duncan showed why he’s one of the greatest to ever do it while making big play after big play, but it just wasn’t enough as a gimpy Chris Paul hit a buzzer beating floater to win the series in seven games.

After both contenders failed in their pursuits of a title, they reloaded. The Spurs return every key player and added star LaMarcus Aldridge. The Clippers kept their core intact and added Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson to help them. This is a game to watch.

Dec. 21, 2015: Thunder @ Clippers

The Thunder took a year off from the playoffs after struggling with injuries to Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka at various stages of last season. This year, they’re back and looking to get back to the NBA Finals.

The Clippers have risen from pseudo-contender to actual contender since two seasons ago. DeAndre Jordan has emerged as a star, Blake Griffin has fine-tuned much of his game and the team is deeper than ever. The Thunder and Clippers are both considered by many to be on the same tier this season and it will be a star-studded occasion when these two teams look to show the world who has the advantage between the two.

Dec. 25, 2015: Clippers @ Lakers

The Battle of Los Angeles has been extremely lopsided lately. History’s roles have been reversed over the past few years as the Clippers are contenders and the Lakers are a lottery team. The teams will reprise those roles again this year with the first meeting being on Christmas.

The Clippers are 11-1 over the past three seasons against the team they share the Staples Center with. That trend of Clipper dominance will likely stay the course for at least this season. The Lakers go into the season without playoff expectations, so this season series against the Clippers might be a consolation and draw the best fight from the Lakers.

The game itself might be crummy, but it’s always fun to see the fans of these two teams go at it.

Jan. 21, 2016: Clippers @ Cavaliers

The Clippers make their annual trip to Cleveland to face off against the King.

The Clippers face the heavy favorites of the Eastern Conference and the stars will be out. LeBron James, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan and Paul Pierce will hopefully all be healthy and playing in what could be an NBA Finals preview.

One of the more intriguing individual battles of recent history is the one between Paul Pierce and LeBron James that dates back to over a decade ago. These two have gone at it plenty of times throughout the years and there is a long and storied history of their rivalry that dates back to James’ rookie year.

The rivalry has been one of the most absurd and underappreciated. Throughout James’ career, we’ve had a rumored locker room scuffle in preseason, a war of words, Pierce talking smack to James’ agent’s father, James telling his own mother to sit down while she got involved when a Pierce intentional foul on James snuck into the crowd. On the court, we’ve been able to see a few 40-point games from both sides and battles between Pierce and James while their teams fought in the playoffs.

Pierce’s career is winding down but his trash talking hasn’t quit. The Pierce-James rivalry makes this game between two very talented teams a must-watch.

Of course, every game has the potential to be a “must watch” game for the Los Angeles Clippers. You never know when Chris Paul, Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan might unleash a monstrous game that we remember them for when their career is over. That’s the magic of the NBA and why we follow it so vigorously.

Greatness can happen on any night; these are just the games that have the highest likelihood to be among the best of all the great NBA games during this upcoming regular season.

Next: Los Angeles Clippers: Grading The Offseason

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Los Angeles Clippers: Games To Watch In 2015-16

By Cameron Stewart | Aug 15, 2015

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