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Hornets Something, Clippers Something minus three

For the sake of consistency, I feel obligated to post a game recap.  I'm little OCD that way.  Also, I tend to touch my nose to shiny things.

In the final analysis, it would have been wrong for the Clippers to knock the Warriors out of the playoffs.  In a perfect, perfect, perfect world, the Warriors would have beaten the Lakers on March 25, the Clippers wouldn't have choked against the Kings, and it would be Clippers 7, Warriors 8.  But as long as the Lakers stayed (barely) ahead of the Dubs, I'm actually happy the Clippers fell short.  Golden State is hot and has a chance to make some noise in the playoffs; the Clippers were going nowhere.

Back in mid-March, as the Clippers were struggling through a five game losing streak, facing a tough road trip and some quality opponents at home, we all thought "If they can just make it to April without losing touch in the race they'll be OK."  Well, guess what?  They closed March winning 7 of 9, and proceeded to go 4-5 in April, easily the softest month on their schedule.  I think the point guard situation really caught up with them - it's the most important position in the NBA, and they were manning it with a journeyman, a guy who should have been in physical therapy, a mediocre converted 2, and an NBDL player.  Not the best situation for a playoff push.

So, while it's annoying that the Warriors didn't face an actual NBA starter in their final two games (no, Jarrett Jack doesn't count), it wouldn't have mattered.  

And it's hard to get too upset about losing to an injury depleted Hornets team for the second time in 9 days, because everyone knew the score of the Warriors game.  They knew they were out of the playoffs before Rasual made that three point play.  I'm sure they would have rather won than lost, but they knew the season was over either way.  No way they wanted to go to OT - did you?