The Los Angeles Clippers have been able to overcome being the little brothers thanks to the fall of the Los Angeles Lakers, but they haven’t been able to overcome their main rival in the league, the Golden State Warriors. Not only did the Warriors set an NBA record going 73-9 last season, they also picked up the prize of free agency, Kevin Durant, whom the Clippers also met with and vied for. Despite never getting past the second round in the playoffs, coach Doc Rivers has no doubt they can go toe-to-toe with the Western Conference champs.
“I think we can play with anybody, and we don’t feel like there’s a gap,” Rivers said of the prospect of challenging the Warriors this season. “That’s all we have to prove, and I think everyone has to prove that.
“I know history very well in this league, and there’s been a lot of superteams put together, quote-unquote, superteams, and I know the history. I feel comfortable where we’re at.”
“I mean, really, we like our team,” Rivers said of the Clippers, who lost in the first round of last year’s playoffs following season-ending injuries to Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. “I can’t go into their team, Oklahoma’s team. That’s not for me. I like our team.”
Rivers was the coach of the Celtics who won in 2008, but plenty of other superteams have failed like the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, 2010-11 Miami Heat and 2012-13 Lakers.
source: ESPN
