Why the Clippers' Game 2 blowout might be a sign of things to come

In any playoff series, the underdog team that opens on the road getting a split of the first two games is always a good start. The split may seem a bit disappointing if the lower seed won Game 1 and had a chance to go up 2-0, but for the most part, beginning a series by splitting two games on the road is a scenario most teams would take.

That's especially true when the road team is as heavy an underdog as the Warriors are in their Western Conference quarterfinal against the Clippers without Andrew Bogut. A healthy Warriors team would have been expected to push the Clippers to the brink and possibly beyond, but without their defensive anchor, most expected L.A. to eliminate Golden State in five or six games. Under those conditions, you'd assume Mark Jackson and co. are quite content to head back home to raucous Oracle arena with home court advantage in what is now a best-of-five series.

When your team follows up a thrilling Game 1 upset with one of the worst playoff performances in NBA history, however, getting shelled by a ridiculous 40 points and allowing Hedo Turkoglu to reach double figures in scoring, some serious questions need to be asked.

Sure, losing by 40 means no more in the grand scheme of things than the Warriors winning by four did on Saturday, but you have to wonder if Monday's demolition was a sign of things to come over the next three games or so.

Without Bogut, the Warriors are relying on Jermaine O'Neal to be the team's only real rim protector against the most prolific offense in the Association and a frontcourt combination that will continue to stuff the ball down your throat if you can't provide ample resistance. And if you remember, the Clips actually got off to a 12-1 start in Game 1 and looked plenty capable of blowing the barn doors off then, too, until Blake Griffin found himself in foul trouble just a few minutes into the game.

Full credit to the undermanned Warriors for finding a way to come away with that game, but if it wasn't for Griffin's foul trouble (he played just 19 minutes) and an admitted blown call that led to a crucial Chris Paul turnover late in the game, we'd probably be discussing L.A.'s chances at a sweep right now.

Combine what we've observed in the first two games of this series with the fact that during their four regular season meetings against the Clippers, the Warriors had a net rating of +9.5 with Bogut in the game and -12.9 with Bogut on the bench - which included allowing L.A. to score over 1.09 points per possession without Bogut - and common sense tells you that the Clippers should pull away rather easily as the series continues.

In addition, the basketball watching world should have a lot more faith in Doc Rivers being able to make necessary adjustments as the series goes on than they should in Mark Jackson.

So while 40-point blowouts surely won't become the norm, unless Stephen Curry is ready to pull another proverbial rabbit out of a hat against one of the top-four teams in the NBA, or unless Andrew Bogut undergoes some magical healing over the next couple of days, Clippers/Warriors may not be the thrilling, competitive series we all hoped for.