2021 NBA playoffs power rankings — 5. Los Angeles Clippers
Strangely enough, my faith in LA is not lost. The Jazz are up 2-0 and look like the better team. Utah is, after all, the one-seed. Even so, the Clippers have come back from an 0-2 deficit already, and there’s generally no shame is losing to great teams. The Jazz are a truly great basketball team.
LA has Kawhi Leonard, who has been right at the top of the list when discussing the best players in the postseason so far. He is still the Kawhi of old — an MVP talent who can dominate on both ends of the floor. The Clippers also have Paul George, a top-15 player, and a well-rounded supporting cast.
The Clippers have run into surprising problems in these playoffs. The defense has been lackluster across the board, with Luka Doncic and now Donovan Mitchell going berserk with minimal resistance. LA has gone big and small to varying degrees of success, and that Dallas team — no disrespect to Luka — had no business taking them to seven games.
All that said, it’s hard for me to bet entirely against Kawhi. The Clippers have been right in the first two games against Utah despite tired legs and some glaring schematic problems. The Jazz are not totally impenetrable, and again, Kawhi. He does wild things sometimes. If the Clippers can scrape by in Game 3, then we can talk about Game 4. If they win Game 4, then we have a whole new series.