Clippers' title hopes could be stopped short if this first-round matchup holds

The Clippers enter this year's playoffs with the highest expectations since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined forces ahead of the 2019-20 season. The Tyronn Lue-led squad has the third-shortest odds to win the NBA Championship, behind only prohibitive co-favorite Celtics and Nuggets. 

However, the Clippers' postseason aspirations could be dealt an early jolt by a championship longshot. If the playoffs were to start today, Los Angeles would draw the No. 4 seed and face fifth-seeded New Orleans (+6600, t-15th shortest odds) in the first round — a matchup that threatens to send them home early. 

On Friday night, the Pelicans completed a 3-1 regular-season series win over the Clippers, and with it, the head-to-head tiebreaker that could determine home advantage if the Pels can close their two-game deficit in the Western Conference standings. 

With the win, the Pelicans also extended their recent dominance of the Clippers to 11-4 over the last 15 games. While Zion Williamson wasn't around for some of those 11 wins due to injuries, he's been the key to the Pelicans' three wins over the Clippers this season, averaging 29 points on 54.8 percent shooting. 

The Clippers, despite having elite wing defenders in their ranks, have struggled to match up with Williamson's quick first step and ability to get to the rim. On Friday, Lue tried everything from putting Leonard, George and Terance Mann on Williamson. Nothing worked, as Williamson bulldozed his way to the rim for 34 points.

After the game, Lue admitted his team needs to find a way to overcome its Zion problem.

"Zion, I think down the stretch of all three games they've won this year, he's dominated us the last six minutes of the third and the whole fourth," Lue said. "So, we've got to pay attention to detail and understand what we want to do.

"...When the game is on the line, and it's a close game, he always takes over down the stretch."

Lue and the rest of his coaching staff will likely study a lot of tape on Williamson over the next month, especially if the current standings hold. The third-seeded Timberwolves are three games ahead of the Clippers and the sixth-seeded Kings are 1.5 games behind the Pelicans.