The Los Angeles Clippers were left for dead after limping to a 6-21 start to the season, but like the meme of the Undertaker rising out of a coffin, they’ve come back from the dead in reeling off a 16-3 stretch. That run has seen them knock off plenty of good teams, from the Rockets to the Pistons, Warriors and Raptors. They’ve even beaten the crosstown rival Lakers twice.
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The Clippers are now 22-24 and in a functional tie for the ninth spot in the Western Conference with the Blazers (another team they beat during this run). Kawhi Leonard has looked like his former All-NBA self since just before Christmas, and together with James Harden, he’s helped L.A. overcame the early-season PR double whammy of the Aspiration scandal and the unceremonious cutting of Chris Paul.
The Clips are three games ahead of the Mavericks and Grizzlies for the final play-in spot, but if they keep playing like this, they may not have to worry about the play-in at all. It’s going to take some work to overcome the 5.5 games separating them from the 6-seed, but with 36 games remaining on the schedule, it’s very possible.
On the latest episode of No Fouls Given, Danny Green and Paul Pierce were talking about the Clippers’ recent glow-up, both how they’ve done it and what they expect to see from them this spring.
“They just look like they have a different energy to them, man,” Green said. “I was at the game when they played the Lakers. To start the game, they was up big. The Lakers came back, but they was up big, but you could just see the type of mindset they were playing with.”
Green credited a healthy Kawhi, meaningful contributions from Harden and Ivica Zubac, and some of the younger rotation guys playing more aggressively. He also shouted out Brook Lopez and Kris Dunn for embracing their roles.
“At least they’re not giving up a crazy pick to OKC,” he joked, since the Clippers still owe them their 2026 first-rounder as the last piece of the infamous Paul George trade.
As the oldest team in the league, Pierce is still worried about L.A.’s health. “They’re an injury away from going back in the tank, but I like them now and hopefully they stay healthy,” he said. He also dusted off his Lakers hate as he, Green and cohost Wosny Lambre discussed possible playoff matchups.
Lambre said he’d like to see a rematch of last year’s seven-game war with the Nuggets, or even a battle with the defending champion Thunder. When Green chimed in that he’d like to see them play the Lakers, Pierce flew in off the top rope by saying, “They’ll sweep the Lakers.”
Green was incredulous at Pierce’s take, and for his part, he said he thought that series would go seven games. It’s easy to see why Pierce might think that way, though, since he’s uniquely qualified to hate the Lakers as few others can. He spent most of his career with the Celtics, the Lakers’ all-time archnemesis, then he spent the final two years of his career as a Clipper, where he got his PhD in Laker-hating.
Incredibly, the Lakers and Clippers have never met in the playoffs before, but it’s bound to happen sooner or later. The Clips have taken two of three this season, though notably, Austin Reaves missed both Clippers wins with a calf strain. The Lakers won the only full-strength matchup earlier in the year which took place when the Clippers were still a mess.
Pierce may get a chance to see if his prediction is correct, but unless both teams advance to the second round, it will take a real heater from both teams to get either a 3-6 or a 4-5 matchup. They meet one more time in the regular season before then.
