LA Sports Hub
Fansided

Clippers Curse: Ranking the five straight blown playoff series leads

By Keith Rivas

Mar 25, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) defends Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) as he drives to the basket in the first half of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 25, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) defends Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) as he drives to the basket in the first half of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 7
Next
Apr 24, 2017; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (3) and guard Damian Lillard (0) talk during a break in the action against the Golden State Warriors in the second half of game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 24, 2017; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (3) and guard Damian Lillard (0) talk during a break in the action against the Golden State Warriors in the second half of game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /

First round vs Portland (2016)

While still definitely a disappointing series, the Clippers only blew a 2-0 lead because of injuries. If it weren’t for Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both going out at the same time for Los Angeles, it’d be a different story.

In the first two games, the Clippers did a great job protecting home court. Winning by 20 and 21 points, respectively, it looked about as safe of a 2-0 lead as you can have.

All of the sudden, the star power got sucked right out of them.

Accordingly, the team lost four straight games. Three of them weren’t even close, while Game 6 in Portland was a desperate attempt by the Clippers to stay relevant.

It fell flat.

This ranks number four on the list because of those injuries, as there wasn’t much help they could provide from the bench. Los Angeles had depended a lot on both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to do without them all of the sudden.

Portland saw their opportunity and never looked back.

Home/Los Angeles Clippers