LA Clippers: Ranking their potential playoff opponents
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
As it stands, if the playoffs started today, the LA Clippers would be playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Thunder have certainly surprised a lot of people so far this season.
It was only just last playoffs, where we saw Damian Lillard, quite literally, wave the franchise goodbye. It was at that moment, where both Russell Westbrook and George wore their Thunder jersey for the last time, as the Thunder decided to blow it up and trading their franchise player.
The assets they received for George was understandable and quite smart, especially in the long-term, however, moving Westbrook for Chris Paul was interesting.
At age 34, no one really believed that Paul was going to even stay on the team, let alone help them be in the playoffs. He is much beyond his prime, yet is having one of the top seasons in the league. Even at this point in his career, he still ranks top-10 in Player Impact Plus-Minus (PIPM).
This team was definitely a huge surprise this season. At the beginning of the season, most fans thought they were barely a playoff team, yet they currently find themselves sitting in the sixth seed.
But exactly, how much of a threat are they to the Clippers?
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Well, aside from Paul and Danilo Gallinari, the rest of their key contributors are all 26 or younger but those young guys are not playing like just young guys. It is a well-rounded team, they are ranked around average in offensive and defensive rating. That’s the thing about those teams that exceed their expectations. They play hard and hungry.
During this season, they split the series so far and have two remaining matchups.
Though both games were without Leonard and in that loss, both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Steven Adams went off.
They could very well be the Clippers of last year. They could take them six and the reason for that is Paul. He has been an All-Star this season, but most importantly, he has been a great leader. With such pieces around him, he could lead them to cause major trouble to any team in the first round.