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Crawford Regains Rhythm, Comes Up Big Off Bench

Rowan Kavner

LOS ANGELES – Jamal Crawford never let his confidence suffer, despite getting just four regular season games to prep himself for the playoffs following a 17-game hiatus from a calf injury.

With a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt Sunday in Game 1 and another made jumper on his next attempt, giving the Clippers an 11-point lead with a second remaining in the first quarter, it became clear Crawford’s getting his rhythm back.

“The days in between last game and this game, I was able to get some work in, get my conditioning right, get the work in,” Crawford said. “It just felt normal.”

Normal for Crawford means abnormal for most bench players, who don’t average the 15.8 points per game he put up this season. Crawford looked like himself again Sunday scoring 17 points, which is crucial for the Clippers and their ability to rest starters in the postseason.

“Jamal is one of those guys that I don’t worry about that much as far as rhythm goes, just because it seems like he could not play for a year and come out on the court and give you 20, 30 points on any given night,” said Blake Griffin. “The way he played (Sunday) was unbelievable, and it looks like he hasn’t even lost a step. He worked hard to get back, and I think it showed.”

Crawford finished third in this year’s Sixth Man of the Year voting, as he attempted to win the award for the second straight year and become the first player ever to win the award three times. The late-season injury hurt that quest, but he still finished the year averaging 15.8 points per game, despite scoring no more than 11 points in any of his four games back from injury.

“Me and Chris (Paul) talk about it all the time - we play basketball, we’re consumed in basketball every single day of our lives,” Crawford said. “To be out five weeks and not be able to do anything but watch, I mean, you can take some good things from it, but it was more bad than good for me. You want to be out there so bad and help your team and just be part of the guys.”

Crawford injured his calf in the second game of March. He was coming off a fantastic February, during which he averaged 20.1 points per game while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor. Crawford’s never worried about percentages and he’s never lacked confidence, but admittedly, it was going to take some time to get back in shape and find his shot.

While others may have been concerned that couldn’t happen by the time the postseason rolled around, Crawford and his teammates weren’t troubled. He answered any worries by going 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from deep in Game 1.

Head coach Doc Rivers knows the Clippers will need those nights from Crawford going forward.

“We need him to score, and I thought he put a lot of pressure on their defense,” Rivers said. “The whole bench may not play a ton of minutes, but they’re going to have their little parts in this series and in every series we play.”