If only the Clippers got along better, postseason success wouldn't be so difficult to attain. Many critics, whether in close proximity or from a distance, cite the dynamic as a primary ingredient in the team's frustrations. Though it has no fixed definition, its meaning is easily inferred: the interpersonal relationships that inform the Clippers' mood. The schadenfreude brigade around the NBA. And somewhere, Donald Sterling will be awaiting the verdict: Maybe he wasn't the Clipper curse after all. Despite Rivers' insistence that he's staying put, rumors persist that he could bolt town ahead of the cavalry. Paul, Redick and the injured Griffin can depart this summer if they conclude Clipperland is unfit for winning. Should the Clippers fall to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, one of the NBA's finest collections of talent of the last decade, one that seemed destined to be the feel-good story of a woebegone franchise made good, will face mortality. on the dot, winning his 2,500th consecutive news conference. Doc Rivers will scheme with assistants, then regale the media at 6 p.m. Blake Griffin will arrive in a walking boot, a victim in Game 3 of yet another freak injury. DeAndre Jordan will work up a sweat - catching, pivoting, lunging at the basket, a project big man all grown up.
Redick will glide through a warm-up routine that would have America's high school basketball coaches swooning.
One by one, they'll disembark into the NBA's loudest concrete bunker where, a few hours later, 19,000 fans will scream for their extinction, like Romans at the Colosseum.Ĭhris Paul, the best player on the floor tonight and the league's most discerning film critic, will screen clips of the Jazz on a tablet. and pull into the loading dock in the bowels of Vivint Smart Home Arena soon after.
THE CARAVAN WILL BEGIN DEPARTING the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City at 5:30 p.m.