Tomahawk Tuesday: Could the Los Angeles Clippers knock off the Golden State Warriors?

                                                      (Credit: Getty Images)

On Monday night, the Los Angeles Clippers pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history, defeating the Golden State Warriors 135-131 after trailing 94-63 with 7:30 to go in the 3rd quarter. While the Warriors didn't blow a 3-1 series lead like they did to the Cleveland Cavaliers, they did blow a 31 point lead, so the numbers 3 and 1 aren't exactly the most friendly to the Warriors. While a lot of people are going to make this about the Warriors and their second half collapse, I want to make this all about the Clippers and focus on their chances to actually win this series.

On the surface, the odds of the Clippers winning this series still seem low. We've seen teams get a shocking split on the road only to fail to deliver the goods at home. What makes upsets in the NBA playoffs so tough is you gotta beat the better team four out of seven times, which is no easy task. Especially when you're trying to knock off a team that is as talented as the Warriors. That all said, there are some reasons to think the Clippers might actually shock the basketball world and advance to the second round.

The first reason is the Warriors are going to have to soldier on without DeMarcus Cousins, who is out indefinitely with a torn left quadriceps. With Cousins out, the Warriors don't have much of a presence in the paint, giving Montrezl Harrell a golden opportunity to make his presence felt inside. Harrell finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds on Monday, showing why he's one of the best post players in the game. If the Warriors can't find a way to better protect the paint, Harrell could eat them for lunch all series long.

The second reason is the Clippers have Patrick Beverley. As Charles Barkley once said, in order to find success in the playoffs, you need to have a crazy guy and the Clippers have one in Beverley. He's a grade-A irritant and a fantastic defender cut out of the DeShawn Stevenson cloth. Beverley appears to be getting in the Warriors' head a bit and has a real opportunity to give Draymond Green a little taste of his own medicine.

The third reason is Lou Williams ain't scared. Williams scored 36 points and dished out 11 assists on Monday, doing a fantastic job of willing his team back to victory. He hit a lot of clutch shots down the stretch and played like a guy that lives for the big moments. When you got a guy like that on your squad, you always got a chance.

The fourth reason is the Clippers have Doc Rivers, who I feel is the most under-appreciated coach in the NBA. After his inability to win a ring with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, many wrote off Rivers as one that could only win with the likes of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. In truth, he's a fantastic coach and is doing his best work since his days in Boston. These Clippers are playing like a team and everyone is buying into Rivers' system. When you have a coach like Rivers, you got a shot to shock the world.

While the Warriors should be favored to win this series, they should not feel like they're guaranteed to win it. The Clippers are brimming with confidence after their historic comeback and now head to Los Angeles for two straight games. As crazy as this is to say, the Warriors are in real danger just two games into these playoffs.

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Saturday Slam: Did the Houston Rockets give up too much for Chris Paul?

The first major headline in the NBA this week was the news that the Los Angeles Clippers traded Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets. Yahoo! Sports' The Vertical reported that in exchange for Paul, the Clippers receive Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, DeAndre Liggins, Darrun Hilliard, Kyle Wiltjer, a 2018 first round pick (protected Nos. 1-3), and $661,000 from the Rockets.

On the surface, this looks like a fantastic move for the Rockets. James Harden needs another superstar by his side to make the Rockets a contender and Chris Paul certainly qualifies as a superstar. But when you look closer at this deal, it's possible that the Rockets gave up too much for Paul. Especially when you consider the fact that depth was a major strength of theirs last season.

Last season with the Clippers, Chris Paul averaged 18.1 points, 9.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. Those are big time numbers. When you add that to the Houston Rockets, he easily becomes their number two player behind James Harden, who averaged 29.1 points, 11.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.

                                          (Credit: Keith Allison. Click here for source)

However, Lou Williams (14.9 points), Patrick Beverley (9.5 points), Montrezl Harrell (9.1 points), and Sam Dekker (6.5 points) were all solid contributors for the Rockets last season. Especially Williams, Beverley, and Harrell. While Williams is the best player the Rockets traded away, Beverley is the most valuable. He was the only player on the team that actually played defense. He's a tough, hard-nosed perimeter defender that plays very hard on both ends of the floor. When healthy, he has the pieces to give guys like Stephen Curry headaches when they have the ball. Considering that he was the only guy who actually cared to defend, giving away Beverley is no small thing.

When looking at this trade, it's no question that the Rockets gave up a lot to get Chris Paul. They gave away their third best scorer and their top defender. But did they give up too much? At the end of the day, I don't think they did. The fact that they were able to hang on to Eric Gordon, their number two scorer from last season, is huge. Had they given him up, I think that would have perhaps tipped the scale.

The biggest challenge for the Rockets will be to figure out how to get Chris Paul, James Harden, and Eric Gordon to all co-exist in the same backcourt. Having their top three scorers play two positions is an issue that will need to be addressed. The good news is that Eric Gordon is comfortable in an off the bench type of role and shouldn't have any issue playing the role of sixth man on this Rockets team.

Assuming they can figure that part out, the Rockets project to be really good next season. They added the best pure point guard in the NBA and did so without giving up their number two scoring option. Considering what they are up against next season, this is a low-risk high-reward type of move for the Rockets. They played their cards right with this one.

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