The Pelicans beat the Clippers 105-101 in the playoffs today, taking the last playoff spot in the West and advancing to the playoffs as eighth in the West.
It's worth mentioning that this is the Pelicans' first playoff since the 17-18 season. In the 17-18 season, the Pelicans, led by Thick Brow, Holliday and Rondo, not only reached the playoffs, but also eliminated the Blazers in the first round 4-0, but the second round was a 1-4 loss to the Warriors, stopping the Western Conference semifinals.
At the beginning of the season, the Pelicans performed badly, starting with only 1 win and 12 losses, but they eventually made it to the playoffs, making it the fourth team in NBA history to lose more than 12 games in the first 13 games of the season and still reach the playoffs, the first three being the Suns in the 96-97 season (stopping the first round), the Cavaliers in the 84-85 season (stopping the first round), and the 67-68 Bulls (stopping the semifinals).
In addition, the Pelicans still made the playoffs this season under the condition of Cain's season reimbursement, which is even more rare. The Pelicans can play in the playoffs, Ingram has a lot of credit, and McCollum, who joined halfway, is also indispensable, if it is not McCollum, the Pelicans may not be able to enter the playoffs this season.
For the Clippers, missing the playoffs was a shame because they were eighth in the West this season and four wins ahead of the Pelicans, but unfortunately they lost both playoff games. Without injuries, the Clippers would never have missed the playoffs.
Before the Clippers missed the playoffs, the Lakers had already missed the playoffs early, and they only ranked eleventh in the West, and they didn't even make the playoffs. In terms of book strength, the Lakers and Clippers are both championship-level teams, but for various reasons, they have missed the playoffs this season. It is worth mentioning that the Lakers and Clippers are also the only two teams this season that have paid a luxury tax but missed the playoffs.
In addition, the Clippers have also become another team that ranked eighth in the West but missed the playoffs after last season's Warriors. The Warriors also finished eighth in the West last season, but lost two consecutive playoff games and missed the playoffs, while the Grizzlies replaced the Warriors into the playoffs.
For two consecutive years, the eighth place in the West missed the playoffs, and it seems that the playoff format is really unfriendly to the eighth place. On the Eastern Side, the eighth-place Cavaliers also lost two consecutive play-off games and eventually missed the playoffs.
For the eighth place, after the play-offs, they often have no advantage over the seventh place, they have to play two play-offs, and their second play-off game has to play against the winner of the ninth place and the tenth place, the defeated general and the victorious division meet, and the eighth place who has just lost is in a weak position in momentum, so the possibility of losing is greater.