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Paul: No Such Thing As Moral Victories

Rowan Kavner

LOS ANGELES – Don’t tell the Clippers just being competitive is enough while playing shorthanded.

The Clippers were without Blake Griffin, Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes on Wednesday night, but they had a chance to beat the Trail Blazers and weren’t content just putting up a fight.

“No such thing as moral victories,” said Chris Paul. “Show me somebody who’s all right with losing, and I’ll show you a loser. We needed to win. It’ll hurt tonight, and tomorrow we’ve got to get ready for Golden State.”

Paul finished with game-highs in points (36) and assists (12) while holding guard Damian Lillard to 1-of-13 shooting. But that wasn’t enough to please Paul.

“We lost,” Paul said. “It’s a team game played by individuals. Even though guys didn’t score their points, other guys did score. We’ve got to play better team defense, because down the stretch that’s what let up.”

Head coach Doc Rivers said he likes the way Paul guards everybody, and he added that he’s not sure if there’s a better defender at the point guard position than Paul or Russell Westbrook. He said Paul’s defense was great on Lillard, but much like Paul, still pointed to the fact that the Blazers won the game.

Filling the box score and staying competitive weren’t enough to satiate or make up for Paul’s desire to win. There weren’t any Clippers players looking for consolation prizes, and for Paul, that wasn’t just because they lost to a team they’re competing with for a better playoff spot.

“I want to win regardless,” Paul said. “Right now, we’re trying to play the right way. All that stuff (with the standings) will take care of itself. Tonight I think it was a lesson. Doc always says play through the game, don’t always just try to run the clock out.”

The Clippers’ locker room emptied arguably as fast as it had all season after the game, with a group of frustrated players feeling the after-effects of watching a win slip away. It wasn’t a group feeling sorry for itself for having to play without three of the top six stars on the team.

“I think they’re all down,” Rivers said. “I’m down, but what can you do? The game’s over, now you watch film and get ready for your next one.”

While Paul wasn’t thinking about standings, they did cross Austin Rivers’ mind after the game. After all, the Blazers and Clippers were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the West before the game.

Rather than jumping up as it appeared the Clippers would do, it was the Blazers moving from fourth to third. The Clippers now have three days to sit on that loss before going to Golden State.

“I looked at the standings and I was like, ‘Man, that was a big loss,” Austin Rivers said. “Especially us being up like that. We win that game, we take that spot. But good thing is we’re only a game and a half behind. The road doesn’t get any easier, we play Golden State at Golden State, which is probably the toughest place to play in the NBA. So it’s a good test for us.”