The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and just today the four teams in the East and West are entering a crucial battle. On the eastern side, the Cavaliers and Magic were tied 3-3 and entered the tiebreaker. On the Western side, the Clippers faced the Mavericks again, but the Clippers' Leonard was once again exempted due to injury, and for the Clippers, this game was undoubtedly the disadvantage. Even if Irving didn't perform well in the first half, the Clippers didn't build an early lead because of Irving's play problems, on the contrary, in the second half, Irving exploded and scored 28 points to completely seal the win.
For the Clippers, this season was a failure. Even if the Clippers have Harden, George, Leonard, and Westbrook this season, they will inevitably suffer a nightmare of first-round elimination. This season's Clippers can be described as strong, and the four All-Star level players are still unable to lead the team further. Next season, it is not clear where the Clippers should go, even if at today's post-game press conference, Paul George, Harden and others expressed their willingness to continue to stay with the Clippers, but there are obvious problems with the atmosphere in the team, especially Leonard's perennial playoff break, which has become the Clippers' biggest headache.
This season, the Clippers have a total salary of $204.5 million, which ranks second in the NBA, and their luxury tax is also the second highest in the league, at 142.41 million, behind the Warriors. Although Clippers owner Ballmer has a lot of money, and this money is just a matter of buying a bag for him, for a businessman, making money is just as important as winning. But now that Ballmer has been on the Clippers, he has recruited Leonard, Paul George, Harden and Willis in one go, but he has not been able to cash in on the championship.
Every offseason, the Clippers can be seen almost everywhere in the free market, and they shuttle between the major stars. But every offseason, you can hear the Clippers' championship cry, but when it comes to the playoffs, there are always people in the audience in suits. Paying a high luxury tax every year and not being able to get out of the West every year has disappointed many fans, and it can be said that the Clippers are the number one injustice in the NBA, which is not too much. Let's take the Warriors and Suns as examples, the Warriors are ranked first in the NBA league this season with a luxury tax of $176.88 million, while the Suns are third in the NBA league with a luxury tax of $68.65 million.
First of all, although the Warriors are out of the play-offs, they have won the championship four times and have tasted the championship. The Suns, although they swept out of the first round 4-0 this season, the Suns have entered the Finals in the first two seasons, but they are only one step away from victory. But what about the Clippers? Every year in the West, they pay the luxury tax every year, but there are always people who are either injured or on the way to injury, and next season, their future is unknown.