This year’s Clippers season, like it or not, came with an asterisk. That fact was guaranteed the moment Kawhi Leonard’s injury was revealed as an ACL tear last July. And as hopeful as the most romantic Los Angeles Clippers fan allowed themselves to be, the title aspirations surrounding this team were delayed until next year.
To that point, perhaps Paul George’s trip to the league’s health and safety protocols was a blessing in disguise. It allowed the Clippers to shirk the incessant media coverage, avoid rushing back Kawhi before his body is fully healed and risking further injury, and give the players that brought the team this far all season — Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum, Terance Mann, and the like — to play the last game the same way.