LOS ANGELES — If you took last spring's six-game playoff loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and stretched it out over approximately 30 games, it would look a lot like the Los Angeles Clippers' 2016-17 season so far.
The hot start: The Clippers jumped out in that series with a pair of 20-point blowouts and began the current NBA campaign a league-best 14-2.
The road slowdown: L.A. lost Games 3 and 4 in Portland and dropped five of seven between late November and early December, including three in a row away from home.
The injuries: first Blake Griffin, then Chris Paul, with J.J. Redick limited by discomfort of his own.
"That's the sucky part of the game," Jamal Crawford recently said. "I think when we're all kids, we just want to go out there and play. You don't even think about injuries. But the reality of it is, it happens and we just have to, everybody has to, step up until these guys get back."
Last year's Clippers succumbed to the Blazers in six games, but got more than a glimpse of what their supporting cast could do when called upon. Austin Rivers battled through a busted eye. Jamal Crawf ...
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Article written by Josh Martin
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