5 NBA Teams Approaching Critical 2017 Playoff Runs

1. Los Angeles Clippers

Forget about the legitimate title contenders like the Warriors, Cavs, Spurs, Rockets or Celtics. While those teams all have understandably high hopes for the postseason, no star-studded core faces more pressure in the 2017 NBA Playoffs than the Los Angeles Clippers.

Before Chris Paul arrived in L.A. and helped transform the franchise alongside Blake Griffin, the Clippers had enjoyed just two winning seasons in 27 years since relocating from San Diego, and they only made the playoffs four times in that span.

In the Lob City era, the Clippers have made the postseason all five years with CP3, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan running the show. The Clippers have been the premier team in Los Angeles the entire time, and they were one epic Game 6 meltdown away from the franchise’s first ever conference finals in 2015.

But that’s just the point: A team with an undeniably talented Big Three and a head coach with championship experience hasn’t been able to even reach the conference finals, let alone the NBA Finals, in five (going on six) seasons together.

With CP3, Griffin and J.J. Redick being injury-prone and all three potentially hitting unrestricted free agency this summer, even the Clippers’ .652 win percentage since the 2011-12 season jumpstarted the Lob City era may not be enough to keep a good thing together.

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Chris Paul will turn 32 in May and is still looking for his first conference finals appearance. Suddenly his former team, the New Orleans Pelicans, looks like a more attractive free agency destination with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, and even if that reunion isn’t in order, other playoff contenders will be clamoring for a floor general of his ilk.

Griffin is still only 28 despite his recent injury woes, and will command a max contract wherever he goes. Could a contender like Boston swoop in and offer him a more preferable path to the Finals, especially if the Clippers fall disappointingly short in a Western bloodbath again?

Redick is a valuable sharpshooter who will draw great interest from playoff contenders. His three-point marksmanship will age well, even as he approaches his 33rd birthday, so he’ll fetch a high price tag in free agency. Even if the Clippers re-sign CP3 and Griffin to keep their Big Three intact, losing Redick could be just as fatal to Lob City’s chances of contending.

The Clippers only trail Utah by 1.5 games for home-court advantage in the first round, but the tell-tale signs of the end of an era are there. Los Angeles has been playing uninspired basketball lately, prompting bluntly honest comments from Redick and reports that Griffin is open to leaving L.A. this summer.

This is not the best Clippers team we’ve seen, and after so many heart-wrenching, stomach-turning playoff collapses, they’ll have to do the unthinkable to convince everyone involved to ride it out: Advance to at least the conference finals, unseating Western powerhouses like Utah, Houston, San Antonio or even Golden State along the way.

Next: 10 Matchups We Want To See In The 2017 NBA Playoffs

Barring a radical playoff breakthrough, the most successful era of Los Angeles Clippers history could be over without a single title — or even conference finals appearance — to its name.