"Winning is done when a team sacrifices to reach a common goal. The LA Clippers have sacrificed from roster spots 1-through-15.

Coming to Orlando to win the franchise’s first championship ever was a decision made by the whole team. Winning a title would mean a new era for a team with a ruffled past.

Great players have suited up for the Clippers. Players have made the All-Star team. Also, they have received great honors. The team though has always been known for losing.

Los Angeles is legendary. Some of the greatest talents in the world have made a name for themselves in this town. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are homegrown talents and need no introduction to the glamour and glitz of LA.

In this first-round matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, both players knew they had to be great. Both players needed each other to be great. Eventually, that was accomplished. The result?

The LA Clippers finally ending their first-round drought."NFL Face Coverings

The premise certainly applies to the results of these playoffs, maybe more so this season than ever before. The bubble’s neutral setting closed the advantage gap between matchups, creating even greater opportunities for upsets, of which we saw several, including the fall of two of the four best records in the NBA.Golden State Warriors Face Masks

But despite Butler’s dominating offense and strong work ethic both being a thing of beauty, they aren’t the sole reason that Miami came out on top.

Ever since Red Auerbach started lighting cigars in Spectrum there has been bad blood between the two teams. Throughout the eras of the rivalry, dozens of fights occurred, some of which involved Red.Los Angeles Lakers Face Masks

The Boston Celtics (and 3 other teams) are having a bad start to free agency
"There’s been plenty of good and bad so far in NBA free agency, but the Boston Celtics and three other teams are off to terrible starts.
It’s the happiest time of the year in the NBA, and that fact is compounded with the combination of the draft and free agency in the same week. Of course, if it’s not a happy time, it’s the absolute worst time, and for a handful of teams (led by the Boston Celtics), it’s been downright awful.

Let’s take a look at just why the Celtics have had a terrible time so far, and then we’ll go on to a few other teams having just as bad of a time.

Why the Boston Celtics are having a miserable free agency
The Boston Celtics always seem to be on the verge of making a big deal for a star, only to decide they’re fine without a blockbuster trade and come up just short in the end. Over the last couple of seasons, it’s even worse than that. Not only have the Celtics been unable to swing a big deal for a star or two, they’ve been losing their own.

Last season they lost Kyrie Irving in free agency, receiving nothing in return. While considering how poorly the relationship was by the end of Irving’s time in Boston, it’s fair to say that getting him out of the locker room was a win by itself, but it’s still a poor result for a max-level player.

This time around, they lost Gordon Hayward also for nothing. He opted out of his $34 million 2020-21 salary, and while he and the team were apparently working to find a sign-and-trade in order to maximize him as an asset, he ended up departing to the Charlotte Hornets and signing a gigantic four-year, $120 million deal.

That contract is certainly an overpay and not something the Celtics should have tried to match, but losing top-end players and replacing them with nothing so far isn’t the best way to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Maybe the Celtics will turn it around, but so far they’re one of our headlining teams for Bad Times During Free Agency."