Doc Rivers: If Clippers win it all, it'll be because of 2015 Spurs series
Last season's first-round series between the Clippers and Spurs was easily the best of Round 1. There was no one debating against that.
It wasn't just because it went seven games and eventually ended on a Chris Paul game-winning floater with one second left. Sure, that Game 7 was phenomenal, but we already acknowledged that series as one of the best first-rounders ever before the final contest even began.
It was purely about caliber of play. That felt like a conference finals, considering the Spurs were fresh off a championship and were as hot as anyone else in the league. The Clippers, meanwhile were the only other team in the West quite as on fire as them (the Warriors don't count in this, OK?). Meanwhile, the seeding never should've worked out like that in the first place.
That was a No. 3 vs. No. 6 series, but the matchup was so outrageous (and almost unfair) that the NBA changed its playoff seeding rules a couple of days ago in part because of that. Under the new playoff seeding rules (which eliminate the value of winning the division), the Clippers would've been the No. 2 seed because they beat the Rockets in the head-to-head series during the regular season and the Spurs would've been the No. 5 seed since they had a flat-out better record than the Trail Blazers, who were only fourth because they won the Northwest.
It was a great series, either way. And when talking to Sports Illustrated, Clippers coach Doc Rivers was actually willing to go even further than that to explain its contextual importance:
“That was the hardest series,” said Rivers. “And the bad part about that series was that the winner lost. Pop and I laughed about it before the seventh game, and he said, ‘The winner may end up being the loser.’ And that’s what happened.
“Chris [Paul] got hurt, and we ran out of gas. But, in the long run, it was one of the most special series I’ve ever been in. It was so well-played. The focus was on basketball, and that is very special. And if we do win the championship this year, it will be because of that series.”
Winning a championship because of a previous loss? That's not actually the most far-fetched theory in the world.
We all pretty much say the same thing about championship teams: They need to build themselves up before they can win it all. There's some sort of natural progression. You almost never see a sleeper, first-time playoff team win the NBA Finals. Usually, a team will lose in the first round, then come back the next year and make the conference finals and THEN, they make their moves for a championship. In some ways, if only because of caliber of play, that Spurs series was the Clippers' conference finals. Maybe it can have the same effect.
(h/t Sports Illustrated)
