The Los Angeles Clippers were suspected to have tanked at the end of the regular season explicitly to avoid facing the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. One NBA reporter thinks he has proof that is the case.
Chris Broussard, who is now a host at FOX Sports Radio but previously was an NBA reporter for ESPN, said on Wednesday that he had text confirmation saying the belief is true.
.@Chris_Broussard received a text confirmation from a source who would know that it's "totally true" the Clippers tanked to avoid the Lakers pic.twitter.com/pxOU9S38OD
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 26, 2021
The Clippers, who won over 65 percent of their games, lost to Oklahoma City and Houston to end the regular season. The Thunder and Rockets had the two worst records in the Western Conference this season.
So was there any coincidence? By losing, the Clippers locked themselves into the No. 4 spot in the West. That ensured they would be in a different bracket from the Lakers and only face them in the conference finals.
The Clippers have denied the allegations. But they have some bigger problems anyway. They are down 2-0 to the Dallas Mavericks after losing the first two games of the series at home. The Lakers don’t even matter if your team can’t get out of the first round anyway.
