LOS ANGELES – The tough march to the playoffs begins with a tough March.
It couldn’t have started much better, as the Clippers overcame a 22-point deficit Wednesday to finish on a 22-3 run in a win against the Thunder, but it won’t be the last time the Clippers see the team one spot ahead of them in the standings this month.
The Clippers, who trail the Thunder by a game and a half, play Oklahoma City two more times in March and also have matchups against all six of the other Western Conference teams who’d be in the playoffs if the postseason started now.
They don’t seem to mind, though.
“Honestly, I don’t think much about schedules,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “I look at rest and stuff like that, don’t look at the opponent much. We have to be ready to play every night. I don’t mind that it’s a tough schedule. I think in some ways that could be good for us, I’m just not sure in what way.”
In one way, it could be good to see the teams they need to prepare for in the playoffs late during the regular season. Jamal Crawford said it’s all about choosing to look at the glass either half full or half empty.
“We look at it as half full,” Crawford said. “Going down the stretch of the season, that’s how the playoffs are set up. If you can play a team of (the Thunder’s) caliber that many times over a short amount of time, it’s only to our advantage.”
The Thunder are just one of a plethora of tough opponents the Clippers will need to fight their way through shorthanded, though the cavalry is coming back slowly, with Austin Rivers returning Wednesday and Blake Griffin getting closer and closer to a return.
Even without their star power forward, the Clippers, who are now 23-7 since he went down, aren’t concerning themselves with the upcoming brutal stretch.
Seven of the Clippers’ next eight games are against Atlanta, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, San Antonio, Houston and Memphis. Then they also have games against Golden State, Portland and Boston and another game against the Thunder before month’s end.
“I just feel like this season – maybe it’s because I’m old – but I just feel like this whole season, the schedule’s been brutal,” said J.J. Redick. “I looked at March, didn’t really bat an eye one way or the other. It looked like the rest of the season.”
Crawford said there’s always extra juice in the arena against the better teams in the league, and Wednesday night was no exception. For it to stay that way, they know they more of what they demonstrated in the fourth quarter and less of what they displayed the first three quarters, trailing by double digits most of the night.
“You welcome the schedule ahead of us,” said Jeff Green. There’s no ducking it. We’ve got to go out there and play, give our best effort and get ready for this playoff push.”
