Mann, oh Mann: The Clippers get their vindication

There are plenty of reasons to adore sports. 

You might like breaking down the Xs and Os. 

Your buddy might prefer watching individual brilliance at its finest hour.

In contrast, his pal might talk down on multimillion celebrities who put the ball in a hoop for a living. 

Maybe one’s just bored and nothing else is on the television. 

But there are also underlying themes to what makes sports so enjoyable – in this case, the game of basketball, which can still shock us with its insane unpredictability. 

Retribution is one of them. Vindication is another. 

Sometimes, it’s as simple as getting that heavy monkey off one’s back.

The Los Angeles Clippers spent the last eight months on the short end of the NBA world’s jokes.

“Chokers!” they were labeled, laughing emojis to accompany the text.

“Pandemic P!” was associated to Paul George, who despite not having a ring to validate his greatness, has the type of talent 29 other NBA franchises would love to have.

“The Clippers are cursed!” 

Was it even true?

In certain stretches, didn’t it feel that way? 

The collapse against Denver in the bubble, the reckless losses in the regular season, going down 0-2 against both Dallas and Utah, the habits of a unit which acted as if they had already won a title – all signs that Los Angeles’ “lesser team” wasn’t the primetime spectacle which they were made out to be.

To be fair, a lot of the hype and pretentiousness came from both the way they spoke and played. 

And like what usually happens in this world – where everything goes round quicker than one can anticipate – they were humbled. 

But not this time. They learned their lesson. 

Los Angeles – not the Lakers, but the Clippers – completed their most memorable comeback in franchise history.

Playing a second straight game without best player Kawhi Leonard, LAC rallied from a 25-point deficit against the team with the NBA’s best record and booked their first-ever ticket to the Western Conference finals in front of a jam-packed Staples Center that, for the first time this deep into the postseason, wasn’t painted in purple and gold.

George earned his shining moment by following up a 37-point, 16-rebound masterpiece in Game 5 with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists in a vintage closeout performance. Palmdale, California should be proud of one of its own, who might as well have smashed Rudy Gobert’s three Defensive Player of the Year trophies on the ground with the way he torched him in the midrange game.

Terance Mann, a second-round pick who was somehow drafted all the way down to 48th overall in 2019, had a breakout performance for the ages with a career-high 39 points on 15-of-21 shooting.

His social media will be blowing up like never before.

Make no mistake about it: when Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, and the rest of the Jazz looked poised to blow the contest wide open in the opening minutes of the second half, it was Mann’s relentless play on both sides of the floor which sparked Los Angeles’ epic fightback.

Slowly, with one hustle play following another, and with each three-pointer falling through the net, the sophomore made his squad believe in what they could still accomplish. His belief and energy were palpable, as the momentum shifted.

Sometimes, there’s still a slight crack of brightness when a door is shut.

Kawhi’s mysterious ACL injury initially felt like a death sentence for Ty Lue’s team. 

The series tied at 2-2, would this season turn into another sad episode of “what could have been?” for the NBA’s most ridiculed franchise?

Mann, oh Mann, was everyone wrong.

Everyone but them.

Reggie Jackson has done something unique by establishing himself as a big-time player just when it seemed like the book on his career had been completed.

An outcast after his stint with Detroit, Jackson went to the Clippers last season and was exposed in the playoffs.

Although he improved this year, it wasn’t as if the signs were still promising. But once the bright lights ignited, Jackson took over games in ways that very few believed was possible.

He, too, schooled Gobert in the paint consecutively, attacking the Jazz max player at the rim with reckless abandon and thriving to tell the tale, with his arms raised in glory. 

Pat Beverley, for all his antics, was absolutely sensational. His defense on Mitchell led to a 12-of-27 shooting night for Utah’s main man, while the returning Mike Conley wasn’t any better by making only 1-of-9 shot attempts.

And how fitting that it was Beverley’s dagger which put the Clippers up 10 with minutes to go and sent the fans of Los Angeles’ remaining team in the playoffs into a frenzy?

Just five years ago, Lue led Cleveland’s unforgettable 1-3 comeback in the NBA Finals against a juggernaut Warriors team which established the league’s best-ever regular season record.

Twice in this postseason, Lue motivated his boys to rally against 0-2 holes. To complete the second one without Leonard active in the final two matches should be boldened in his budding resume.

As for the Jazz? Well, there’s no curtaining the disappointment.

To what extent was Mitchell bothered by the bum ankle? We might never know. Like the man he’s been relentlessly compared to, Dwyane Wade, who now is a part owner of the Jazz, Mitchell will have to go through the heartbreaks of playoff defeats to make the eventual triumph sweeter.

But how will Utah get there? 

A coaching change? Quin Snyder is a hell of a coach, but consecutive playoff collapses and lack of adjustments in this series will raise questions of his credibility to bring Utah to the NBA Finals.

Is it time to break up the Mitchell-Gobert pairing? Rudy finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 0 blocks, and a -24 in 42 minutes. Aside from Donovan, he is Utah’s best trade asset.

Or is it as simple as retooling the supporting squad around them?

Those are questions for another day.

Because today, for the first time in half a century, the Los Angeles Clippers are in the Western Conference finals. 

Make no mistake about it: a battle against the hot boys from the Valley of the Suns will be incredibly difficult, CP3 or not.

But for now, this is their moment to shine.

And nobody can take that away from them. – Rappler.com