Pregame Roundup: The Billups Fallout

16-7 after tonight! Go Clippers!

The Clippers should win easily tonight. The Cavs are bad, they played last night on th road, and they don’t have a dominant center.

The Clippers are going to be fine during the regular season, and they’ll likely end up in one of the 5-8 playoff spots and will open on the road. The first four teams in the West likely will be the Thunder, the Spurs, The Mavs and The Lakers, maybe The Nuggets or The Blazers. That’s where the problems will start, and the main reason the problems will start there is because five of those six teams have excellent big men and will torch Deandre Jordan.

It will be far worse than during the regular season. In a seven game playoff series, the opposing team will develop focused game plans targeting Jordan. The result will be painful to watch.

People have been talking about the necessity of getting a veteran guard or small forward to come off the bench and help in the playoffs. That’s minor. The major need is a starting center who will not get routinely torched by almost every other team in the playoffs. The Clippers are not getting out of the first round without one, even if they beat out the Lakers in the regular season and open at home.

DeAndre Jordan starting at center is that much of a liability.