Rowan Kavner
SAN ANTONIO – It would take beating the defending champions on their home court for the Clippers to avoid elimination and force a Game 7.
They got it done.
If there were any questions about the Clippers’ resolve after a crushing Game 5 loss, they answered them emphatically by snagging a four-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter Thursday night and never giving up that lead in a 102-96 win to tie the series heading back to Los Angeles.
“This team is tough,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “We’re mentally tough.”
Chris Paul shook off an 0-for-8 start to finish with 19 points and 15 assists, taking over in the second half. Paul and Griffin combined for 18 points in the third quarter to help turn a tie game at halftime in the Clippers’ favor entering the fourth.
“I didn’t think about it,” Paul said about the start. “I don’t care in the playoffs. (Stats) mean nothing. It’s all about if you win or lose.”
The Clippers did the former, despite the Spurs making things interesting as Marco Belinelli hit his seventh 3-pointer of the night to bring the Spurs within two points with 14 seconds left. But Jamal Crawford responded by hitting free throws at the other end to seal the victory.
“We had to show a lot of resiliency,” Crawford said. “It was a total team effort. This morning, everything was business as usual. We’re a confident group.”
Griffin finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. DeAndre Jordan added 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Griffin knew the challenge presented by the Spurs, who were 11-5 all-time in Game 6 when leading a best-of-7 series, 3-2, prior to the Clippers’ win.
“They’re a great team in every sense of the word,” Griffin said. “I don’t think you can look at a team in the last 20 years that’s been better.”
But the Clippers got it done.
They persevered after trailing by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, while struggling from deep once again. They started 0-for-8 from 3-point range, missing 20 straight 3-pointers dating back to Game 5, before Matt Barnes drilled the Clippers’ first long-range shot of the night with less than two minutes remaining in the second.
That 3-pointer also happened to cap a 12-2 run for the Clippers, who responded from four straight 3-pointers from Belinelli to come storming back at the end of the half. The Clippers and Spurs were tied after the first quarter, 26-26, and after the first half, 51-51.
“I told our guys to focus on execution, don’t focus on elimination,” Rivers said. The ‘e’ to use is execution.”
That’s what the Clippers did, never losing their cool despite being on the brink of elimination.
“It’s probably one of the most relaxed games we’ve had, in terms of our mentality,” Paul said. “We just never got rattled.”
The Clippers tied it up by halftime with defense, holding the Spurs to six points in the final 6:20 of the first half. They also fought through more hack-a-Jordan, who was 7-of-13 from the line in the first half with 15 points and 10 rebounds
J.J. Redick had 14 points at halftime, once again without the help of a 3-pointer, though he’d go on to bury a crucial one in the fourth quarter as part of his 19 points in the game.
A tie game at the half quickly turned in the Clippers’ favor in the third quarter, as they went on an 11-2 run to start it off. The Clippers were on a 27-8 run going back to the second quarter, holding the Spurs to eight points in a 10:36 span during that time.
The Spurs responded with a 17-8 run in the third quarter to tie it up, but the Clippers regained a four-point lead by the end of the quarter thanks to Paul and Griffin, who combined for 45 points, 21 assists and just one turnover.
NOTES: The Clippers have never won a best-of-7 series when trailing 3-2, but they’ll have the opportunity to do that Saturday … Glen Davis sprained his ankle in the game and didn’t return … The visiting team has won four of the six games of this series … Griffin and Paul combined for 21 assists and one turnover in the game … The Clippers had 18 fast break points to the Spurs’ two … The Clippers held Kawhi Leonard to 3-of-15 shooting …