LA Clippers Notebook: It’s Do or Die for Blake Griffin, CP3 and Doc

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — There’s something different about the Los Angeles Clippers this season.

Is it a slimmer, trimmer Chris Paul? No, he didn’t lose any weight, he insisted during the team’s media day. But he appreciates the thought.

Is it Austin Rivers’ new hairdo? Not quite. 

Is it the eight new faces in training camp? Technically, yes, but the core of this year’s squad (i.e. Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford and Rivers) is identical to last year’s.

What is it, then, that separates this team—with its sights once again set on the Larry O’Brien Trophy, after yet another disappointing playoff exit, with the roster as loaded as ever—from its predecessors?

“There’s no more like win-or-bust or all these things. We’re not having any of these sayings,” the younger Rivers said at Clippers media day. “We’re just going to go hoop and try to get it done.”

L.A.’s aim has been lofty for the last half-decade, ever since Paul joined Griffin and Jordan in L.A. by way of “basketball reasons.” Doc Rivers has kept the Clippers among the league’s elite, averaging better than 55 regular-season wins during his three years as head coach.

“Now we have to back that up in the playoffs,” the elder Rivers said.

The Clippers have come close to breaking through during each of their franchise-record five straight playoff appearances, especially since Doc arrived.

They had the upper hand on the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014, only to fumble away the end of Game 5 and crumble further during Game 6. In 2015, they ceded a 3-1 second-round series lead—and a 19-point third-quarter lead during Game 6—to the Houston Rockets.

Last year, they destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers in Games 1 and 2 of the opening round, then stumbled in Game 3 and lost control entirely in Game 4 when Paul and Griffin succumbed to injury.

“It always takes a little bit of luck,” Paul said. “We’re going to do our part, push our guys, and we’re going to give it our best shot.”

This may be the Clippers’ last, best chance at a ticker-tape parade down Figueroa Street.

For now, their team is loaded with talent like few in the NBA today: Griffin has been among the upper crust of power forwards since his debut in 2010 and was on yet another rise prior to a quad injury last season. Paul remains among the pre-eminent point guards in the game. Jordan’s a two-time All-NBA center—third team in 2015, first team last season—with Olympic gold to boot.

There’s also J.J. Redick, the reigning three-point percentage champion, and Jamal Crawford, the NBA’s first three-time Sixth Man of the Year. And now there’s a bench loaded with battle-tested veterans.

“I think we have a superteam here,” Paul Pierce said.

“I know history very well in this league, and there’s been a lot of superteams put together,” Rivers said.

Eight years ago, Pierce won a title with another superteam: the Boston Celtics, with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Rivers coached that club to 66 wins during the regular season and 16 more in the playoffs. He’s yet to recapture that magic with the Clippers and might not have much longer to do so.

Next summer, Redick will be a free agent. Paul and Griffin can both opt out of their current contracts and figure to do so, with the cap expected to spike to $102 million.

Keeping all three will be tricky as it is, even if they decide to stay. L.A. can exceed the salary cap to retain them but would once again be left to fill out its roster with minimum contracts.

Convincing them to stick around after another early playoff ouster could be downright herculean. Paul will be 32, staring down his potential twilight without having yet sniffed the conference finals, let alone a title. Could he look longingly toward an on-court reunion with any of his banana boat buddies, be it Carmelo Anthony in New York, LeBron James in Cleveland or Dwyane Wade in Chicago?

“Unfortunately for me, I’ve had 11 summers of going into the summer knowing what it’s like not to win a championship,” Paul reminded.

Griffin will be courted by, among others, his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. They hope to pair him with a point guard, Russell Westbrook, who’s much closer to him in age and playing style.

If Doc the Coach can’t coax the Clippers past the second round of the playoffs, and if Doc the Executive can’t put together a team capable of doing so, who’s to say either (or both) of Rivers’ hats won’t be ripped right off his head, either?

The Clippers insist that these are concerns for another day, that this trio of ticking time bombs won’t change their ultimate goal or how they plan to achieve it. For them, high stakes are the norm.

“I feel there’s been a sense of urgency since I got here, and I feel like there’s been expectations and pressure, whether internal or external, to win a championship,” Redick said. “I think with our group, we’ve always had sort of a great focus and a great perspective on the present and on embracing sort of the moment that is now, and I wouldn’t expect that to be any different this year.”

The biggest difference has little to do with the Clippers themselves. Their competition has at once been pared down and beefed up since the end of last season.

The Thunder and Houston Rockets are down one superstar apiece. The San Antonio Spurs replaced …

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