1991–92 Los Angeles Clippers season

The 1991–92 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 22nd season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, and their eighth season in Los Angeles, California.^[1] During the off-season, the Clippers acquired Doc Rivers from the Atlanta Hawks,^[2][3][4] and acquired James Edwards from the Detroit Pistons.^[5][6]

With the addition of Rivers and Edwards, the Clippers won five of their first seven games of the regular season. The team posted a six-game losing streak afterwards, but soon posted an eight-game winning streak between November and December, which led them to a 14–10 start to the season. However, the Clippers struggled and soon fell below .500 in winning percentage with a 21–24 record as head coach Mike Schuler was fired.^[7] After two games under assistant coach Mack Calvin as an interim coach, and holding a 22–25 record at the All-Star break,^[8] the team hired Larry Brown, who resigned as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs a few weeks earlier.^[9][10]

Under Brown, the Clippers won 23 of their final 35 games of the season, and finished in fifth place in the Pacific Division with a 45–37 record, earning the seventh seed in the Western Conference.^[11] The team qualified for their first NBA playoff appearance since the 1975–76 season, when they were known as the Buffalo Braves, and ending a fifteen-year playoff drought.^[12][1] This season was also their first to finish with a winning record above .500 since the 1978–79 season, when they were known as the San Diego Clippers,^[1] and also marked the first time that they finished with a better record than their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, who finished two games behind them with a 43–39 record.

Danny Manning averaged 19.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, while Ron Harper averaged 18.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and Charles D. Smith provided the team with 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, but only played just 49 games due to a knee injury.^[13][14][15] In addition, Ken Norman contributed 12.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Rivers provided with 10.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game, Olden Polynice averaged 8.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and Gary Grant contributed 7.8 points, 6.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Meanwhile, Edwards averaged 9.7 points per game off the bench, and second-year forward Loy Vaught provided with 7.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.^[16] Manning finished tied in 16th place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[17] while Brown finished in fourth place in Coach of the Year voting.^[18][17]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1992 NBA playoffs, the Clippers faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Utah Jazz, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Karl Malone, All-Star guard John Stockton, and Jeff Malone. The Clippers lost the first two games to the Jazz on the road at the Delta Center, before winning Game 3 at home, 98–88 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Game 4 of the series was played at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, due to the 1992 Los Angeles riots;^[19][20][21] the Clippers defeated the Jazz by a score of 115–107 to even the series.^[22] However, the Clippers lost Game 5 to the Jazz at the Delta Center, 98–89, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.^[23][24][25]

The Clippers finished last in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 500,200 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season, which was 27th in the league.^[16][26] Following the season, Smith, Rivers, and second-year guard Bo Kimble were all traded to the New York Knicks,^[27][28][29] while Edwards signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers,^[30][31] and Polynice was traded to the Detroit Pistons.^[32][33]