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Regular Season Feel Coming Back To Clippers As Preseason Winds Down

Rowan Kavner 

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers’ two wins of the preseason have one thing in common.

While their overall preseason record won’t impress, those two games in particular had a regular season feel, with close matchups ending in victories that came down to the end.

That was the case last Friday in a four-point win against the Jazz, and that was particularly the case Wednesday against the Suns, as the Clippers pulled out a three-point victory in a back-and-forth matchup that Chris Paul sealed late. Despite it actually being the preseason, that regular season atmosphere is a welcomed feeling.

“It’s good to get that feeling back, our adrenaline of a close game and the crowd back into it,” Paul said. “That’s why you love professional sports, that’s why you play, to be able to get that feeling as we get geared up.”

While it’s tough to completely reenact a regular season feel when both DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford are on the bench, Blake Griffin said that’s about as close to a regular season feel as a preseason game will get. That was evident on the court and off it, where owner Steve Ballmer got the crowd going and the energy up as the camera turned his direction.

The Clippers ended the first half with an 18-12 run to cut the deficit to three points and went on a run in the second half to recapture the lead. There were 19 lead changes in the game, nine ties and neither team led by more than five points from the 3:50 mark in the fourth quarter until the end. Griffin said it’s good to pull out those kinds of wins with that type of feel.

The emotions got so high and the game got animated enough that J.J. Redick, after getting his sixth foul at the 2:43 mark of the fourth quarter, was handed two technical fouls and subsequently ejected from the game after arguing the call. That’s something Griffin had fun with after.

“He’s a wild card,” Griffin said with a smile. “That’s the one guy I worry about when I go to sleep at night. No, it happens. Emotion’s part of the game. Obviously, I know that. But he’ll be all right.”

The Clippers needed their stars to guide them in the fourth quarter, and Griffin and Chris Paul answered that call, as they’ll be counted on to do when the games actually start to count.

Despite the regular season feel in Wednesday’s preseason game, the Clippers are antsy for the games to matter again.

“We’re finding it,” Paul said. “At the end of the day, it’s good to see what it’s like to win.”

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