The Clippers are Suddenly the Hottest Team in the NBA

That headline is not the world's longest typo. The Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last night for second time in five days, and in the process, knocked OKC to the second seed in the West.

Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and company are 12-2 over their last 14 games, and last night's win clinched a playoff berth. These are truly some wild times.

The Clippers are still behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division, but they have proven they are more than capable of playing with anyone in the league and the rest of the league should be worried.

What the Clippers have is youth, and in this compacted season, that's a good thing. Youth means bodies that are able to stay healthy through this grind. The Clippers also have some solid veterans with playoff experience. It has been proven year after year that playoff experience matters. 

That said, the Clips don't have a ton of playoff experience, just some. It might be that the 66 game schedule could even out the experience factor, but it's not likely. The Lakers have been there. The Spurs have been there. Memphis, Dallas and Denver have all been there.

The reason the Clippers have been able to beat the Thunder is because they are very similar and match up well. OKC is young, with two superstars in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and they play a similar style as the Clippers do. OKC had a deep playoff run last season, losing to eventual champs Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.

That success should help the Thunder out this year. But if they meet up with the Clippers, all bets are off if you ask me.

Article by Eric Gray