L.A. Clippers Collapse In Game 3, Down 2-1 In Series
After winning seven straight games to win home-court advantage, the Clippers now find themselves in a precarious position after losing to the Spurs 100-73 and leaving them down 2-1 with one more game in San Antonio before returning to Los Angeles. In a game that saw the Clippers fall behind by 37 points, it is very clear that the team needs to find something to inspire them and they need to find it now.
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After being honored with the Defensive Player of the Year award, Kawhi Leonard looked intent on proving just how much of an all-around player he is by dropping a career high 32 points in a vital game where Doc Rivers claimed that his team simply lost their heart. Per coach Doc Rivers:
"”We’ve had this happen a couple of times this year, we lose our spirit because we can’t make shots. I thought that’s what happened as the game went on. Every time we missed a shot, we played less and less defense.”"
It certainly did appear that way. The Clippers had their fewest points all season with only 73 and their lowest field-goal percentage as well. The 27-point loss was also the Clippers worse playoff loss in franchise history. Blake Griffin had only 14 points and DeAndre Jordan only had 10. Griffin who has so frequently created highlight reel dunks this series found himself on the receiving end from Leonard during the game. Chris Paul astoundingly had more turnovers than assists and was not playing like himself all night. Austin Rivers provided 11 points from a bench that seemed nearly nonexistent the entire game, with every other player unable to contribute more than five points. The white flag was thrown a little more than half-way through the fourth quarter when the starters were taken out of the game and Doc Rivers sat down to let the game play out to it’s inevitable conclusion.
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Kawhi Leonard’s career night greatly overshadowed the rest of his team, his score doubling that of any other player with Boris Diaw adding 15 and Danny Green pitching 11. Tim Duncan who had an incredible game on Wednesday had a quiet night with only four points and Manu Ginobli had two. Tony Parker returned after leaving his second straight playoff game with an injury and provided six points in 25 minutes.
All season, analysts and insiders alike have said that while their league-leading offense might be effective, their depth is a serious detriment to their post-season success. The Clippers have gone through a revolving door of players with Nate Robinson, Jordan Farmar, Jordan Hamilton among others, yet none have been able to be that consistent spark that brings the rest of their talent together for an effective second unit. While Crawford has shown flashes of his return to form, players like Rivers and Glen Davis have not shown to be able to carry the workload while the team’s starters get their rest. In last night’s game the Clipper starters began to show all of their fatigue with most of them averaging more than 40 minutes per game. As the series has now moved to playing every other day, this will be a factor if the other players can not find a way to contribute more off the bench.
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For the Spurs, the momentum is completely on their side as they outlasted the Clips in Game 2 to win in overtime and now decimating them at home in Game 3. The series now alternates with the next game in San Antonio, the following in Los Angeles and so forth which at the moment favors the Spurs as they now can rely on winning at home if need be. After the unrelenting push that Greg Popovich made on Friday night, it is clear that the Spurs want to move on to the next round as soon as possible. Whatever changes Doc Rivers is planning for Game 4 he needs to find them very soon if his team is to avoid another post-season meltdown.
Game 4 between the Clippers and Spurs will be on Sunday from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, live on ABC at 12:30pt.