San Antonio Spurs rally back to win 96 – 86 against Los Angeles Clippers, go up 3 – 0 – NBA Playoffs Recap - Part 2
A Chris Paul jump shot started the second half. The third quarter though belonged to the San Antonio Spurs who went on a massive 24 – 0 run that devastated the Los Angeles Clippers, silenced the crowd and put the visitors ahead at 69 – 57.
Clippers fans watched in horror as a double digit advantage turned into a double digit deficit and the Clippers could only manage to add a few more point before the period ended 69 – 61 to San Antonio.
The Spurs were calm and collected again in the fourth frame. They held on to their lead quite comfortably, but the Clippers did keep trying. A critical 3-pointer by Tony Parker and a then a Boris Diaw layup though broke the Clippers’ resistance, the score
now 91 – 78.
The game petered out to a close at 96 – 86.
Clippers star Blake Griffin scored a game high 28 points and had game high 16 rebounds for a massive double-double. He was therefore not very pleased to end up on the losing side. The forward remarked after the game that his team always knew the Spurs would
make a comeback and just weren’t able to cope with it.
"You knew they were going to make a run. It was just a matter of trying to withstand it," Griffin said. "In the second half, especially the third quarter, we did a poor job of responding.”
"I missed some shots I hit in the first half, easy shots."
Griffin also credited the Spurs strategy, who use Tim Duncan inside presence to devastating effect.
"When they spread the floor and Tim Duncan runs a high pick-and-roll, it's trouble for a lot of teams," Griffin said. "That's basically what killed us in the third. This is what they do best."
Griffin’s star teammate Chris Paul again had a tough night as the centre of San Antonio’s defensive attention but still came up with a double-double, scoring 12 points and handing out 11 assists.
The last Los Angeles player in double figures was Mo Williams, who came off the bench for 19 points.
The Clippers are now down 3 – 0 in the Western Conference Semi Final series and need a win at home in the next game to survive.
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