Clippers learn a lesson

If the first game taught any lesson, it’s that the Clippers will have to learn that having a target on them might be a heavier burden than they might have imagined.
Coach Doc Rivers said afterward that when he coached the Celtics, it was before they won the NBA title that teams came after them with more vigor than after the Celtics were champs. In his mind, a team “anointed” to be a contender is more irksome than a champ.
“I thought this was going to be a brutally tough game. I kept saying it all week,” Rivers said. “That team heard for four or five months how good we are. I told our guys tonight we’re fighting human nature. That team is coming after you with everything they have. I don’t know if you can match that, and at the end of the day we did not.”
Jamal Crawford, who only days before said he hangs on every word Rivers delivers, said a little more in-depth understanding of Rivers’ words might be needed.
“He’s been there before, he has that credibility and he’s seen it all,” Crawford said/ “So I think the next time he says something like that we’ll take heed.”