To suggest Clippers Coach Doc Rivers is clairvoyant would be folly.
But when Rivers had the foresight to tell his players back on Oct. 30 after they defeated Utah in the second game of the season at Staples Center that the Clippers and Jazz would be playoff foes is telling.
The two teams are indeed on a collision course to be first-round combatants in the Western Conference playoffs.
They are breathing down each other’s neck for home-court advantage heading into Monday night’s showdown in Salt Lake City, with the fourth-seeded Jazz holding a one-game lead over the fifth-seeded Clippers.