Charles Barkley dropped an intriguing take about the Clippers ahead of their first-round playoff matchup against the Suns on Sunday. During a segment of TNT’s halftime show, Barkley claimed that he believed Los Angeles “wanted” to face Phoenix in the playoffs.
Barkley claimed that, this year, the play-in tournament would have been the easiest path for the Clippers to the Western Conference finals, since they could have avoided the Suns, who were undefeated with Kevin Durant until Sunday’s Game 1 defeat. But Barkley argued that by starting their key players in the regular-season finale, the Clippers were sending a message that they wanted to meet the Suns in the first round.
Ernie Johnson vehemently disagreed, suggesting that no coach in their right mind would prefer to go to the play-in tournament than earn a top-six seed and an automatic ticket to the first round.
