Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin Doesn’t Feel The Support
After losing a close game to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, the Clippers’ Blake Griffin minced no words in discussing his opinion of how he felt about the fan support during the game. Griffin felt that the crowd was vocally in support of the Warriors. Per a report on SportsIllustrated.com.
“Home-court advantage is just not there for us,” Griffin said after the game. “If that’s how it feels in the playoffs, it’s not looking good.”
There are several factors at play here. First is the perennial lack of success of the Clippers that has long worked against their favor in terms of gaining fan support and their newfound glory comes at an opportune time in Los Angeles. In 2011, the Lakers were still the reigning two-time champions with their eyes on a third consecutive title. That same year, Blake Griffin competed in the Dunk contest and launched his own star into the stratosphere of NBA popularity. In the years following, the Lakers have done abysmally worse as the Clippers have done progressively better. That said, there’s simply too many years of support behind the Lakers in order to be taken over by the Clippers in just a few seasons. Especially when sixteen of those years have brought championships to the city.
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The comments made by Griffin also need to be put into context. Despite two matches coming up with the Lakers, the biggest basketball rivalry in California is between the Clippers and the Warriors. The latter of which plays in the most passionate arena in the entire NBA. Their shooters also have the biggest reputation behind the arc in the entire league. Fans at the Oracle Arena hold their breath any time Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson are open behind the three-point line. Fans in every other arena know that part of the price of admission is watching them bring their talents to their town night-in and night-out. Griffin is aware of the void left in California by the Lakers and the opportunities that would come with being the best and most popular team in the state. Undoubtedly, he hoped for more from his team and the Los Angeles fans in a critical game and was stating his disappointment.
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This brings us back to the point at hand, does Griffin have a valid point? The Clippers will not have home-court advantage in the playoffs. The standings will dictate this. The teams with the best records in the league, the Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, not coincidentally have the best records at home at 34-2 and 32-5 respectively. For what it’s worth, the Clippers’ record at home is 27-11, the same as the Warriors’ record on the road.
“I don’t know what we could do, but it would be great if it wasn’t that way,” Griffin said. “It’s kind of like when we play the Lakers. I don’t know, maybe worse. It’s one of those things where it would be great if it wasn’t like that.”
With only a handful of games left in the regular season, the Clippers are currently the fifth seed and would not have home court advantage in the first round against the Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers 30-7 record at home is third best in the NBA. Griffin and the Clippers have only a few games left to round into form for the post-season where the game is very different. In a best-of-seven series, home-court advantage becomes a less prominent factor as teams are able to adjust to the tactics of opposing teams over the course of the series. Led by floor general Chris Paul and championship-caliber coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers will have their chance to erase the talk of home and away with the only thing that matters: winning.