This past weekend and its three games were quite nostalgic for old school LA Clippers fans. Nothing went as planned, there were plenty of exasperated gasps, yelling at the coach moments and some trademark blown leads.
It was like all the optimism slowly surfacing this season remembered it was dealing with the Clippers and got ready to destroy itself. Friday’s dream-crushing loss against the New York Knicks was brutal, considering the Knicks are terrible and that we blew a 16 point halftime lead.
Of all the teams facing the Clippers since my last diary, the Knicks seemed liked the easiest chance for a win. Notice I said “easiest chance” – since there is no such thing as a guaranteed win in ClipperNation, a point that a friend of mine politely made note of shortly after my last diary was published.
Talking NBA over some Mexican food, I eagerly told my buddy about the prospects of Baron and the boys reaching the coveted .500 mark “Man, if we can just beat the Knicks we’ll be one step closer to 13-13! I mean, come on it’s the Knicks!”
Even though I thought I was exuding the confidence of a fan ready to see his team continue its rise, my friend laughed and emphasized the “if” I used in my prediction. Remember, the thought came to me, at best your hopes rest on the unpredictable chance that you might beat terrible teams. Another friend there, who is a Lakers fan, chimed in with a well-timed “Wait, are you guys talking about that other team the Lakers allow to use the Staples Center?” Le sigh.
Elton Brand goes up for the basket against former teammate Chris Kaman.
(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
It’s a testament to the notorious history of a Clippers fan when it reaches the point that you can’t even feel sure enough to beat a team that just signed a guy who hadn’t played in three years and is embroiled in another “coach just benched a key player” controversy.
The emotional ride wasn’t going to stop there either, since a trip to Philadelphia brought the whole Elton Brand free-agent fiasco of 2008 back to the forefront. Any Clipper fan will tell you that Brand is a subject that elicits a wide range of feelings, and even though time is supposed to heal all wounds, there are plenty of people out there still harboring ill-will towards Elton. D.J. Foster over at ClipperBlog.com did an excellent job of summing up how many of us felt, and whether you agree or disagree with him, the comments section is likely to have something you’ll relate to.
The game lived up to the storyline. When it was all over fans were treated to an overtime thriller highlighted by a somewhat resurgent Elton (his numbers have slowly been improving, even as he publicly disagrees with his role off the bench), a Sixers team pumped up after defeating the mighty Boston Celtics the night before and most importantly, revenge in the form of a 112-107 Clippers win.
As goes Eric Gordon, so go the Clippers. His off night (10 points on 3-9 shooting) lead to a Clippers loss against the San Antonio Spurs.
(Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images)
The good? They won. Simple enough. The bad however, was a different story. They almost blew another sizable lead (13 points), they continue to suffer from poor adjustments, questionable coaching and were very fortunate that a potential buzzer-beating game winner by Andre Iguodala was waived off.
The revenge was sweet, but alas, short lived because Tim Duncan and the Spurs continued the dominance they showed over the Clippers 8 days before with another butt-whooping, this time with a 103-87 win in San Antonio.
There isn’t much of a silver lining in losing by double digits twice to a team in a span of less than 10 days, but I am a Clipper fan after all, so you know I’ll try.
Ready? Hey, at least the second time we only lost by 16, not 25. I call that improvement, and it’s bound to get better. I mean, up next we have Houston, Phoenix, Boston and Portland … oh crap.
-Will.
“Diary of a Clippers Fan” will be published Mondays and Thursdays during the regular season.
