Clippers at Spurs
The defending champion San Antonio Spurs have an opportunity to close
out the series when they host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. San
Antonio took a 3-2 series lead with a 111-107 victory on Tuesday,
leaving the Clippers in need of back-to-back wins to claim the Western
Conference first-round series.
The Spurs are aware they are in a good position but nobody wants to pretend this still isn’t a series that can be lost. “We are excited about it,” backup guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. “Our job is not done yet because we have a bigger game at home and we really want to close this series out.” Los Angeles nearly won Game 5, but a basket interference call with 4.9 seconds left negated Blake Griffin’s go-ahead basket. “It’s tough but the series isn’t over,” Griffin told reporters. “We’ve got to be ready to come and play. It’s going to be a hostile environment in San Antonio in a closeout game, elimination game, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS: Center DeAndre Jordan had 21 points and 14 rebounds in Game 5, but it was he who tipped the ball inside the cylinder to negate Griffin’s key basket and put the Spurs in position to win. “I was under the basket so I couldn’t really see. I was just trying to make a play on the ball,” Jordan told reporters. “It ended up being a dumb play. That’s on me.” Griffin had 30 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists but tired in the fourth quarter when he missed eight of nine field-goal attempts.
ABOUT THE SPURS: Veteran power forward Tim Duncan continued his excellent play with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in Game 5 for his fourth double-double of the series. Duncan has three 20-point outings and is averaging 17.2 points and 10.8 boards with his one low-production game coming in San Antonio’s 100-73 win in Game 3. Small forward Kawhi Leonard had an off-shooting 5-of-16 night in Game 5 while scoring 18 points and is averaging 23.4 points in the series.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Los Angeles PG Chris Paul had 19 points and 10 assists in Game 5 for his first double-double of the series.
2. San Antonio PG Patty Mills was 4-of-4 from 3-point range in Game 5 and scored 13 points for his third double-digit outing of the series.
3. Clippers SG Jamal Crawford is 1-of-19 from 3-point range over the past four games.