Tyronn Lue glided into the Clippers’ postgame interview room on Sunday afternoon and clapped and clapped and clapped and clapped and clapped once more. He beamed as his head bobbed up and down.
His Clippers squad had simply certified for the Western Convention playoffs, doing so within the final regular-season recreation with a win over the Golden State Warriors, who had been additionally looking for a playoff berth whereas enjoying at house within the Chase Heart.
The Clippers had defied the preseason odds of being a playoff participant. Lue refused throughout the season to let his group assume in any other case and now they’ll face the Denver Nuggets within the first spherical beginning Saturday at Ball Enviornment.
“They counted me out. They counted us out,” Lue mentioned. “I know they did. I know it. But we are here.”
In that second, there was a way of accomplishment and satisfaction from Lue and the Clippers as a result of they’d exceeded expectations and completed within the fifth spot within the NBA’s aggressive Western Convention.
At finest, the Clippers had been considered by the critics when the season began as a attainable play-in staff and even then probably combating for a 9 or 10 spot.
They weren’t going to have Kawhi Leonard to start out the season as a result of he was recovering from a proper knee damage that ultimately led the previous All-Star ahead to overlook the primary 34 video games.
They weren’t going to have former All-Star ahead Paul George anymore as a result of he took the cash from the 76ers and bolted to Philadelphia.
They had been the Clippers’ finest gamers, and with Leonard injured and George gone, many had been skeptical about this staff.
However the Clippers completed tied with the Lakers and Nuggets at 50-32, a report few might have predicted.
“I think our group has been playing with a chip on its shoulders all year because of that,” Lue mentioned. “We just found ways to win. We just found ways to win. No matter whose night it was, we just kind of featured that guy, played hard defensively and competed and we played together. … Being counted out and staying the course and playing with that chip on your shoulder all year long.”
Contained in the Clippers’ locker room after the win in San Francisco, Leonard and All-Star guard James Harden had been two of the final gamers to depart the bathe. The staff’s two stars and leaders stood side-by-side speaking, smiling and their teammates knowingly.
On one aspect of the locker room, heart Ivica Zubac and guard Bogdan Bogdanovic sat subsequent to one another watching the Masters golf match on TV whereas ingesting a beer.
On one other aspect, guard Norman Powell and defensive ace Kris Dunn talked concerning the Clippers reaching this level and what it took.
Norman Powell, stealing the ball from Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard, was the Clippers’ second-leading scorer with a career-high common of 21.8 factors a recreation this season.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances)
However of all of them, Leonard had come the farthest.
He performed in simply 37 video games and only one set of back-to-back video games. However because the season progressed, Leonard acquired stronger and stronger.
All of it culminated over the weekend, when Leonard performed 42 minutes towards the Kings in Sacramento on Friday evening after which a season-high 47 minutes towards the Warriors on Sunday. He tied his season excessive in factors with 33 towards the Warriors.
His knee damage not is a topic.
“I’m happy that I have a great organization behind me to allow me to get healthy and know exactly what I need to do,” Leonard mentioned. “Them letting me reach out to outside sources and combining them together and collaborating. Like I said, it’s not over yet. We still got a playoff series to try to win and just want to keep going from there. Like I said, have a good playoffs and a healthy offseason and just keep going.”
Even Lue missed video games due to again ache, however the Clippers went 4-1 throughout his absence, the teaching employees led by assistant coach Brian Shaw preserving the practice shifting.
The Clippers noticed Harden shine by averaging 22.8 factors and eight.7 assists, the latter statistic fifth finest within the NBA.
Powell averaged a career-best 21.8 factors per recreation whereas Zubac averaged profession highs in factors (16.8), rebounds (12.6) and assists (2.7).
So the Clippers have discovered solace in proving their doubters incorrect.
“We’re human. We know what’s being said about us, what’s being put out there,” Powell mentioned. “TLue, he’s been through it, the ups and downs. People not wanting him here. People upset with what he was doing. Not being able to have a full healthy roster the previous seasons and not having big aspirations of winning a championship.
“Especially this year, nobody had us having 50 wins, being top five right now going to the playoffs. So, to knock that off and have people kind of backtrack and figure out what this team is all about now, it’s a lot of fun. We’re super-competitive. It’s happening. Fifty wins is big-time.”
