Revisiting LA Clippers high points from the 2010s
The Lob City era is here
After all of the complications and commissioner David Stern vetoing the Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers trade, the LA Clippers traded Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and a 2012 first-round pick to the New Orleans Hornets for Paul. Just like that, the Lob City era had begun.
The addition of Paul, who was right in his prime, resulted in an eight-win improvement (in 16 fewer games because of the lockout-shortened 66-game season), the first playoff appearance since 2006 and some playoff success.
In their first postseason appearance in six years, the Clippers were matched with the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and almost ended up in blowing a 2-0 lead.
Their first playoff series together, their first playoff game together and it was something to remember. With around two minutes left in the third quarter, the Clippers found themselves in a bad position — down 27 points, with basically one quarter left. So, what did they do then?
They outscored the Grizzlies by an impressive margin 35-13, but the most impressive player that game was Paul. He had scored or assisted on 20 of the 35 points in that quarter alone. A huge game-changer came with just under three minutes left when Nick Young hit three 3-pointers in one minute.
The series looked like it was over before it even began, as the Clippers took a commanding 3-1 lead, which they almost blew, but ended up winning this tough series.
The next series, well, that was not that pretty. The San Antonio Spurs swept and ended the Clippers’ season quite abruptly.