CHICAGO - Fifty.
It's a number that I usually associate with milestones, like a golden wedding anniversary or the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history.
Fifty also represents hope, as in a 50-50 chance of success and survival in life.
To those who have an affinity for entertainment, 50 can be a famous rapper or erotic shades of gray.
But after the L.A. Clippers sank to a historic low on Monday, trailing the visiting Dallas Mavericks 77-27 at halftime, I'll never look at 50 the same way ever again.
Per ESPN, the 50-point halftime deficit was the largest in NBA history since November 1991. And when the Mavs led by at least 40 points in a span of 30 minutes and 11 seconds, it marked the longest stretch of dominance by a team in a game in the last 25 years.
The Mavericks arrived in Los Angeles staggering from a disappointing 0-2 start. And while they made 49.4 percent of their shots, they weren't really super exceptional.
As a matter of fact, only four Dallas players scored in double figures and Luka Doncic didn't even have a signature triple-double, just a workmanlike 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
In other words, a quick autopsy on the shameful 124-73 mugging revealed that some of the Clippers wounds were self-inflicted.
They misfired an ironic total of 50 field goals. They went 4-of-33 from 3. They got out-rebounded 54-36, lost the assists battle, 25-13, and had 19 turnovers, five more than Dallas.
The Clippers were so bad, so slow they looked like the Walking Dead in expensive sneakers.
When I first glanced at the 50-point margin, I instinctively looked for eyeglasses although I have never owned one. And I had to do a quick Google search to check if the disgraced former owner Donald Sterling bought back the team.
Yeah, it's scary bad when ghosts not named Casper start leaping out of the closet.
The fact that Kawhi Leonard (mouth laceration) and Marcus Morris (sore knee) didn't play is being pointed out by some apologists as a reasonable excuse for the unholy, unbearable dreck the Clippers traumatized us with just two days after Crhstimas.
Nope, this was unacceptable. Inexcusable.
The Clippers still had Paul George. Isn't he a six-time All-Star who was just signed to a four-year extension worth $190 million?
The Clippers also dressed veterans Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum, Patrick Beverley and Reggie Jackson. That group shouldn't get blown away like an RV loaded with bombs.
WHERE'S THE TEAM PRIDE?
I don't know. But here's what I do know.
PG13 can't do magic like R2D2.
George made only four of 13 shots and missed all six from deep. He had 15 points and four turnovers.
"Tough game after Christmas," he told The Los Angeles Times.
Tell that to the millions who lost their jobs in this pandemic, Paul. I'm sure they can relate to your struggles of being on the road, flying on a charter jet. tucking in at night at five-star hotels and getting paid an estimated $486,000 for a game your team lost by 53.
Clippers coach Ty Lue dismissed the embarrassment as merely one game of 72.
He's right. But this one loss carries a stench that will linger like that brown stuff you drop as you squat in the toilet.
I'm just happy that because of a continued rise of Covid-19 cases in California, Clippers fans weren't allowed to enter the Staples Center and pay overpriced tickets for that horror show.
Those poor souls would have been scarred for life.
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