LA Clippers Have Sights Set Higher than First-Ever Conference Finals Appearance

The LA Clippers took a commanding 3-1 lead in their second-round series with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, winning 96-85 behind a monster showing from Kawhi Leonard. As a result, the team is now just one win shy of advancing to the Western Conference Finals — a would-be first in the history of the franchise.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, LA's 49 seasons without reaching the league's penultimate playoff round are "by far" the most among any team in the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL. This is a big deal not only for Clippers fans, but in the history of American sport.

The Clippers players and coaching staff, on the other hand, don't seem to care about how close they are to making history. Just ask Doc Rivers, who said the team had "zero reaction" to going up 3-1 in the series.

"That's not our goal," Rivers said after Game 4. "I don't even think no one cares to be honest... We haven't done anything yet."

Leonard echoed Rivers' sentiments, downplaying the results of the contest and instead shifting the focus to closing out the series.

"It's always good if you can make it to the next round, but you know, we've got a lot of work to do still," Leonard said. "The Denver team does not quit. They have got a good group over there, a good coach. So we still fighting."

Last we saw the Clippers in their current position, they blew a 3-1 lead in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals to the Houston Rockets. It was a historic crash — and one that LA never seemed to recover from. In the two seasons that followed, the Clippers failed to make it out of the first round and eventually shook up the entire roster.

Of course, this current group shares little more than a name with the old LA teams — Rivers is really the only constant — so it's understandable that making it out of the second round doesn't hold that same significance.

Game 5 between the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets will take place this Friday, Sep. 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET. If the Clippers can close the series out, they'll await the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.