Clippers' Remaining December Schedule Will End LA's Season Before 2026

The Los Angeles Clippers' brutal schedule in the next two weeks could end their season prematurely.

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Clippers fell to 6-19 for the season after an embarrassing clutch defeat against the Rockets on Thursday. Losing eight of their last nine games, the Clippers have the second-worst record in the Western Conference. With how much better their potential rivals in the play-in race, the Grizzlies and the Mavericks have been playing, the Clippers' path to a postseason spot seems rockier than ever.

In fact, all hope could be lost before the new year. The Clippers have a tough schedule in the rest of December, which will almost certainly widen the gap between them and the rest of the conference.

Clippers Schedule in the Next 2 Weeks

Opponent	Date
vs. Grizzlies	Monday, December 15
@ Thunder	Thursday, December 18
vs. Lakers	Saturday, December 20
vs. Rockets	Tuesday, December 23
@ Blazers	Friday, December 26
vs. Pistons	Sunday, December 28

The Clippers play the Rockets, Thunder, and the Lakers in a three-game stretch. Getting a win against three of the four best teams in the West will be a massive challenge. They are also hosting the Pistons in this stretch, who have the second-best record in the league and have gotten healthier in recent weeks.

The only potential wins could come against the Grizzlies and the Blazers in this stretch. Even in those games, however, it's hard to imagine the Clippers being favored. They should be able to win one of those games, but that could be the only win in their next six games.

Let's be overly optimistic and say the Clippers went 2-4 in that stretch. The Clippers will be 8-24 at that point. That will put them at a 21-win pace for the season. For them to finish .500 for the season, they would have to go 33-17 in the final 50 games of the season.

Not only does that seem nearly impossible, but even if the Clippers were to pull it off, finishing with 41 wins is still not good enough. Over the last five seasons, the best finish by a .500 team in the Western Conference was a ninth-seed. This means that the Clippers' best-case scenario would be facing the OKC Thunder in the first round.

The worst part of it all is that the Clippers are as healthy as they can realistically hope to be right now. James Harden and Ivica Zubac haven't missed any time, and Kawhi Leonard is at full strength, even playing back-to-backs in the last three weeks. Wins have still been eluding them. If there was an extended absence for any of the three, things could easily get much worse for the Clippers.

Barring a series of unexpected wins in the next two weeks, the Clippers' season will be over before 2026, forcing Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank to make uncomfortable decisions. Whether they keep the future of the franchise in mind when making these decisions remains to be seen.