Los Angeles Clippers: The playoffs won’t be as easy as you think

Although they are the third seed in the Western Conference, many believe that the Los Angeles Clippers will roll into the Finals, which might not be the case.

If you ask NBA fans outside of Los Angeles that have no emotional ties to the Los Angeles Clippers or Los Angeles Lakers who have the best chance of getting out of the West a lot of people would probably pick the Clippers.

The Clippers are arguably the deepest team in the NBA and are led by the superstar that led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA Title last season, Kawhi Leonard. Paul George is the perfect second star and with plus defenders in Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell, the Clippers are stout.

It does not even stop there. Landry Shamet is one of the best bench guards in the league, Lou Williams will go down as the best sixth-man of this generation and Marcus Morris was a massive addition to shoot the three and add size off the bench.

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That, with Ivica Zubac, creates quite the eight-man playoff rotation that seemingly can steamroll through the West. It gets easier to buy into this as well due to the fact that the Clippers have beaten the Lakers both times around.

However, despite arguably being the most talented team in the league, I have an inclination that the playoffs are going to be harder for the Clippers than fans are giving credit for. This will be true for the Lakers as well, but I really do think that there are some misconceptions about what will happen.

First of all, there is an argument to be made that the Clippers are great because they are the third seed in the West despite Kawhi and George rarely playing together. George and Leonard have played together in 22 of the Clippers 53 games, which is quite low.

All in all, the Clippers have never really had all the pieces together at the same time. Yes, this could keep the team fresh in the playoffs and that absolutely is a benefit, but we cannot ignore the potential drawbacks of chemistry.

I do not think there are any lockerroom issues with chemistry in any way. But in the closing minutes of a playoff game with two teams that are marginally different from the people on the court, I like the group of guys that have played 70+ games together over the group that has played less than 40.

Kawhi does often pick it up in the playoffs, which is a counterpoint, but Paul George often gets worse. He shot 36.5 and 31.9 percent from three the last two playoff series and his defensive rating rises significantly.

The seeding could also provide an issue as well. Depending on where the Houston Rockets finish, the Clippers might end up playing the Rockets in the second round of the playoffs. While this could also happen to the Lakers, whichever team does play Houston is going to get drained from that series.

I don’t think Houston beats either the Lakers or Clippers in a playoff series but they are an experienced team that knows what it takes to play close games in the playoffs and that series will be grueling for both sides.

If the Clippers do end up playing Houston in the second round and the Lakers get, say, the Denver Nuggets then the Lakers will probably have an easier route to victory.

That is really a flip of a coin but the last concerning thing about the Clippers is the road record. The Clippers have not been particularly good on the road at all with a 15-11 record on the road. The Lakers, Nuggets, Thunder and Mavericks are all better on the road.

It won’t matter against the Lakers, but again, in a series against Houston, that could extend the series and wear the team out.

I still think the Los Angeles Clippers are the most talented team in the Western Conference and it would not be shocking whatsoever to see them represent the West in the NBA Finals. However, let’s pump the brakes on this being any sort of cakewalk.