LA Clippers sent a thundering message to rival Los Angeles Lakers

Everyone who follows the NBA is well aware that the LA Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets in the Orlando bubble. Meanwhile, their cross-town and inter-arena rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed the benefits of being the last team standing with confetti raining down their heads as the NBA Champions.

That was last season, and going into this year; the expectation was that the Clippers would need to make up for not reaching the conference finals a year ago. Meanwhile, the Lakers were expected to cruise through. Well, sorry to burst the bubble, but that’s not the case. The Lakers are now in danger of having to play in the “dreaded” play-in game. The same play-in game that Lakers star LeBron James was critical of a year after a year of parading the idea.

The LA Clippers sent the Los Angeles Lakers a clear message that this year will not end up like last year.

But James didn’t play in the latest matchup, and co-star Anthony Davis endured back spasms and only played nine minutes. The Clippers destroyed the Lakers 118-94 in their latest matchup on Thursday night. With the Portland Trail Blazers delivering a victory on Friday night, the defending champions are now in the spot of playing in the play-in game against Golden State if the season were to end today.

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The defending champions in the play-in game? Alas, it just may come true. Meanwhile, the team that was the talk of jokes in the offseason now looks better. Those who wish to see otherwise are merely delaying the potential inevitable that the other team in Los Angeles, aka the Clippers, might be better this season as opposed to last season.

Yes, the Clippers say that this year won’t be like last year, but they have to prove it. However, the team that needs to understand the message is the team that shares the same building as they do. While Portland certainly helped the cause, the Clippers are the team who put that message down.

Just imagine if the roles from the Thursday night game were reversed and the Lakers had their full roster and beat the Clippers badly with their stars down. What would the narrative be? You don’t need 30 seconds for that. It would be that the Clippers would not be as good as the Lakers, and the praise would be consistently overbearing.

Also, it’s not wise to consistently get caught up in the past. There is a tendency to do that in an attempt to remind someone or a team to stay in their place. In this case, it’s the Lakers trying to tell the Clippers that they are not worthy of competing alongside them as defending champions. As a matter of fact, the time is different, and there is the possibility that the Lakers don’t even make it out of the play-in game.

Sure, the LA Clippers have to win the title for this to matriculate fully. Yet, one thing is true. There is a stronger connection among this Clippers roster as opposed to the one that melted in Walt Disney’s playground. In the meantime, they are watching their rivals implode, which just may be the most satisfying pleasure felt.