With Thursday’s 106-77 win over the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers have quickly emerged as one of the hottest teams in the NBA now that they’ve won 15 games in a row. However, if you take a closer look at which teams they’ve played over the last couple of weeks–there’s no way this team should be considered the hottest in the league at this point.
Sure, winning 11 of those 15 games by double digits is impressive, but the argument can be made the teams they really haven’t faced any contenders during the winning streak. It be one thing if Los Angeles had been playing against teams like the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, or even the Los Angeles Lakers, but the fact that the Clippers have been facing teams like the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors means their winning streak isn’t as impressive as everybody thinks it is.
The NBA has seen this numerous of times over the years where a team gets hot during the regular season and appears to be on their way to winning the title–only to fall short of their goal once the playoffs roll around. There’s still plenty of time left in the 2012-13 season and instead of labeling Los Angeles the best team in the league at the moment–wait until we’re further into the season to see where the Clippers stand.
They may be hot now, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Clippers cooled down later on in the road and struggle against the contenders when it matters the most.
