The LA Clippers have been a tough and resilient team in recent memory. The Denver Nuggets though will challenge that toughness and resiliency.
The Orlando bubble is an asylum of the mind. The LA Clippers are the ones to talk to when you think about the above statement.
The excitement of Disney reinvigorates the body and brings joy to the masses. A stay too long can be a trip into everlasting despair.
For LA they feel as though they have worn out their welcome.
Lou Williams talked about the plight of an NBA player in 2020.
"“It’s a lot,” Williams said crunched down and reminiscing about the past events. “Everything we deal with is overwhelming. We’re inside a controlled environment, we’re expected to entertain you guys, save the world, speak up on issues that are very personal that hits home for us. It’s not easy.”"
That coming from a seasoned veteran puts the exclamation point on a wild week for the NBA. The league has dealt with police brutality issues like this before.
In 1992, the NBA postponed Game 4 of the first round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers due to the Rodney King riots. It was moved to the UNLV campus.
The Clippers knew what they were getting into coming to the NBA’s Orlando bubble. Things would happen. Injuries and distractions would be in abundance.
The next series will be challenging. The Denver Nuggets have just come back from a 3-1 deficit in a series against the Utah Jazz that they shouldn’t have won.
Denver is experienced. After losing last year’s Game 7 in the Western Conference Semi-Finals they won this year’s Game 7 in the first round.
As the underdogs this year they will be ready. An underdog is usually a laughingstock. A person or thing that has no chance.
The Nuggets though combine youth and talent to create a force to be reckoned with. They are a bad defense but they are still mighty.
They held the Utah Jazz to 78 points on Tuesday night.
Denver is young but skilled. Inexperienced but up for the challenge. Nikola Jokic is making a name for himself as the greatest big man ever. Michael Porter Jr.’s next year in the NBA will introduce a new era of talent. Jamal Murray has the team on his back.
The LA Clippers have two Goliaths in response. Two architects that have studied the art of basketball to a T.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are resemblant to the Dueling Dragons.
One fire. One ice.
Leonard is the punch. George is the calming effect.
The two stars are loners in a 90s video game loaded with vigorous audacity. They are Scorpion and Sub-Zero living vicariously through basketball megastars.
In the minds of many, they coexist like two buddies in an 80s movie. Two architects yes but architects that are future Hall of Famers and will cause nightmares for the Nuggets.
Currently, this Denver Nuggets team is hot. They are coming off the biggest game of their lives.
Everybody can remember big moments in their life. Those moments have shaped us into who we are. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger they say.
The Clippers though – the Clippers have been the top team and will be the top team in this series.
It is time for the great Clippers to conquer themselves and break the proverbial hyperbolic time chamber they are in.