Oh, how everyone waited for April to come around! Now’s when you see who can actually walk the walk. The playoff kicks off with the Clippers taking on the new look Nuggets at the Ball Arena. Seeing the Grizzlies’ fate after dismissing Taylor Jenkins, people thought Denver would follow suit after doing the same to Michael Malone. But the job David Adelman has done is extraordinary. And his first real test comes in the form of Ty Lue’s band of misfits.

Denver is a fully different outfit now. Unlike most of the other teams, they don’t offer much of a vod to go on. So setting up counters to their play can only come from game-time decision making alone. And Ty recognizes that. “Coach Malone, you know, how he raised up and how he did things. It’s gonna be a little different to kind of what they run, assess their running rotations, if they’re doing anything different. So we’ll see.”

But the mind does ponder—Malone has no more obligations towards the Mile Highers. If Ty Lue does try to nit-pick tactics from the inside, will Malone want to help? Luckily, the media thought to question the same. And Ty’s remarks in the playoff prac press spoke perfectly of his nature. “It’s too close to try to pick somebody’s brain that just got fired—[he] just won a championship two years ago. I wouldn’t do that. No, out of respect for him, I wouldn’t do that.”

You know what’s funny? Ty Lue’s been in the same position as Malone. He won the Cavs their one and only championship in 2016, and was fired after an 0–6 start to the 2017-18 season. So you could only imagine what he’d feel like being in Malone’s shoes.

But the confidence he can have in the Clippers is very evident in the momentum they’re taking into that first game. Their 9-1 in L10 is the best record league wide. Kawhi Leonard‘s consistent appearances since injury have had an amazing impact. But the Klaw’s history with the playoffs as a Clipper is no secret. Even his injuries this season would’ve put him between a rock and a hard place. So, how would his mental state be stepping onto the Ball Arena hardwood?

Kawhi Leonard in a “great mental space” heading into playoffs, says confident Ty Lue

Kawhi would be hoping and praying that past misfortunes don’t show up again this season. The Lob City looks to be in an amazing shape—probably their best in a while. If they have a chance of making it even to the conference finals, it’s now. And he knows how important he is to their offense. But the double ring-holder has a bone to pick with the playoffs. And Ty Lue’s confident that he couldn’t be in a better mental shape.

“Yeah, we’re confident. He’s in a great mental space, like you said, [he] just wanted everything to get to point where at the end of season he’s… you know, so that’s been a while since that happened. And I’m happy for him, because he put in the hard work to get to this point. He just had a long lot of medical staff and it’s been great, but I’m happy for him,” said the Clippers HC in the press.

Kawhi’s averaged 21.5/5.9/3.1 in just 37 season games this season. That just goes to prove his status as a future Hall of Famer. And Lob City come into the game with a point to prove—that they can go the distance without Paul George in the lineup.

The head-to-head is back even this season. With Clippers winning the first two (109-104, 126-122) and Denver the latter two (120-98, 126-103). Their home court advantage will come in big too. So, the question is—will the Clippers manage to reach higher than the Mile High Club, or will Nikola Jokic and Co. prevail?