Ever since last summer, fans, analysts and most involved with basketball were all anticipating an epic showdown between the two Los Angeles basketball teams, the Lakers and Clippers, in the playoffs.
But thanks to an epic collapse, that won’t happen as the Denver Nuggets fought back from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Clippers and advance to the Western Conference Finals, where the Lakers awaited them.
Social media was in a frenzy following the loss as not only fans basked in what many consider a choke job by the Clippers, but even current and former players chimed in as well. Among them was Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who turned to Twitter to take shots at the Clippers as well.
Magic didn’t hold back any punches, saying that the Clippers flat out choked and reminding everyone that it wasn’t the first time that happened:
The Clippers choked again. ????????♂️ They choked against Houston in 2015 and they choked tonight against the Denver Nuggets.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 16, 2020
The @Lakers will always own Los Angeles!! It will never change ????
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 16, 2020
Back in 2015, under head coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers held a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the second round, but would drop three straight games to lose the series. They were ahead by 19 points late in the third quarter of Game 6 and by 12 with eight minutes left.
Much like that contest, the 2020 Clippers held double-digit leads in each of the final three contests before faltering in each of them.
The response to the Clippers elimination comes in large part to the expectations placed upon them and the way in which they carried themselves for most of the season. The Clippers were the choice of many to win the championship and the players looked as if they bought into that as well, which may have been a reason they faltered.
The Clippers are undoubtedly a talented roster on paper, but the matchup everyone was waiting to see won’t happen. And because the Clippers failed again to reach the Western Conference Finals, and all of the talk about them being superior to the Lakers and taking over the town, it opens them up to wrath of Johnson and others.
Alex Caruso impressed
Whether it’s considered a choke job by the Clippers or a resilient comeback by the Nuggets one thing that is known for sure is that the Lakers will face the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
Denver trailed 3-1 in both of their playoff series thus far before coming back, and that has impressed Alex Caruso.
“It’s just impressive the fight that Denver shows,” he said. “They were down 3-1 in the first series, everybody counted them out, and they won three in a row. They were down 3-1 this series, I think everybody counted them out.”
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