Are the LA Clippers A Sleeper in the 2024 NBA Playoffs?

Are the LA Clippers A Sleeper in the 2024 NBA Playoffs

On the whole, the LA Clippers had mixed results in 2023-24. The Clippers were able to avoid the play-in round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs. While the Clippers were a solid NBA future odds team, they were not elite. Most important of all, LA was a poor betting value. Gamblers were consistently splashed with red ink by the Clippers. But there is a sense that with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, the Clippers have the potential to beat anyone they face. Indeed, LA is seen as a potential sleeper to take the Western Conference title this spring.

LA Clippers 2024 NBA Championship Future Odds

2024 LA Clippers NBA Championship Odds:+1000

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LA Clippers Team Overview

The LA Clippers are 51-31 straight up, 38-44 against the spread, and 38-44 over/under the sportsbook total. Late on, LA has covered three out of their last nine games. While the Clippers have gone under the total in five of its previous eight matchups. LA is 4th in the Western Conference playoff standings. LA is six games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference playoff race.

Overall, LA has NBA metrics of 12th for scoring offense, 6th for field goal percentage, 6th for 3-point field goal percentage, 3rd for free throw percentage, and 19th for offensive rebounding. While on defense, the Clippers have NBA metrics of 10th for scoring defense, 12th for field goal percentage permitted, 14th for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 5th for defensive rebounding. The Clippers open a first-round series with the Dallas Mavericks. Specifically, the series opens on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

LA Clippers Key Players and Coach

Namely, Tyronn Lue has been head coach of the Clippers since 2020. He is best known as the head coach of the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. His career NBA playoff odds record is 312-217 in the regular season and 52-33 in the playoffs.

SF Kawhi Leonard leads the Clippers with 23.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Also, he is a 2-time NBA champion, 2-time NBA Finals MVP, and 6-time NBA All-Star, including this season.

F Paul George averaged 22.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, he is a 9-time NBA All-Star. He arrived with the Clippers at the same time Leonard did, but from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

LA Clippers History

In their 50+ years as an NBA franchise, the most that the Los Angeles Clippers have done is go to a conference championship. And that the Clippers made their first trip to the conference finals in 2021. The Phoenix Suns defeated them in a six-game series. But that hasn’t deterred Steve Ballmer from trying to turn this moribund franchise into a winner. The Los Angeles Clippers were originally known as the Buffalo Braves. They were founded as an expansion franchise in 1970. But they were sold and moved to San Diego in 1978.

Previously, former owner Donald Sterling went down as one of the worst owners in the history of professional sports. Sterling owned the team from 1981 to 2014, when he was banned from the league for life and forced to sell the franchise. The Clippers only made the playoffs four times between 1976 and 2011, winning just one playoff series in that stretch.
However, Steve Ballmer has immediately done everything in his power to make the Clippers a contender. They have now finished with a winning record for 11 straight seasons. And then Ballmer brought in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to hopefully win a title.

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