FUNDAMENTAL WOES
Griffin’s triple-double is offset by turnovers and Spurs even the series behind Duncan
Blake Griffin would surely give it all away, all the dunks and the points amid a rare playoff triple-double, for a chance to do the final minutes over.
The Clippers star made an excruciating turnover late in regulation with his team holding a two-point lead, then committed a controversial offensive foul in overtime to help the San Antonio Spurs hold on for a momentum-shifting 111-107 victory in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series Wednesday night at Staples Center.
The Clippers still had a chance to tie the score with 13 seconds left in overtime but J.J. Redick missed a three-pointer and the Spurs went on to deadlock the series at one game apiece. Game 3 will be Friday in San Antonio. Griffin finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, none of it much consolation considering the way things went for him in the final minutes.
Things had looked much sunnier for the Clippers when Chris Paul made two free throws with the crowd chanting “MVP!” to give his team a 94-92 lead with 50.2 seconds left in regulation.
The Clippers appeared as if they might have secured the victory when Matt Barnes then stole a pass from the Spurs’ Marco Belinelli, but Griffin lost the handle on the ball while dribbling with 11 seconds left and Paul was forced to foul Patty Mills on a fastbreak.
Mills made both of the free throws with 8.6 seconds left to pull the Spurs into a 94-94 tie.
The Clippers had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Paul missed a 19-foot jumper and Griffin couldn’t connect on a tip-in at the buzzer.
Griffin compounded matters by being called for an offensive foul with 1:56 left in overtime while driving on Boris Diaw and the score tied. The Spurs’ Tim Duncan then made a 13-foot jumper while falling down to give San Antonio a 103-101 lead and the Spurs never trailed again.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant might as well have been Duncan’s foils, so ageless was Duncan on the court where he has tormented the home team for year after year after year.
The comparatively young legs of the Clippers could not keep up with Duncan as he finished with 28 points on 14-for-23 shooting and 11 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard added 23 points for the Spurs, who finished the game without veteran point guard Tony Parker, sidelined by tightness in his right Achilles’ tendon, and sixth man Manu Ginobili, who fouled out.
The Clippers rallied from a 10-point deficit with 61⁄2 minutes left in the fourth quarter thanks in part to San Antonio’s decision to intentionally foul DeAndre Jordan.
The Spurs were holding an 88-83 lead with 4:51 left when they started using that tactic. Jordan made only four of 10 free throws while being intentionally fouled in the quarter, but the Clippers got enough defensive stops to quickly shave their deficit.
Belinelli’s 20-foot fadeaway jumper gave the Spurs a 92-90 lead before Griffin made a driving layup to tie the score with 1:20 left.
The Spurs tried to end a series of wild momentum swings when they intentionally fouled Jordan late in the third quarter while holding a three-point lead. Jordan made two of four attempts to help the Clippers cut their deficit to one point, but two Mills three-pointers gave the Spurs a 77-74 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
It felt like throwback night with a halftime performance by Montell Jordan and a first-half barrage by Duncan, who repeatedly bullied the Clippers’ interior defense. Duncan had 16 points on eight-for-nine shooting by halftime, largely offsetting Griffin’s 19 points.
Griffin packed a season’s worth of dunks into the first two quarters. There was a two-handed putback dunk off a missed Redick jumper, a one-handed dunk after Griffin had badly juked Diaw and a dunk off a Jamal Crawford lob from near halfcourt.
But San Antonio unfurled its own attack mentality, reflected in its 14 free throw attempts by halftime to the Clippers’ two. The Spurs held a 52-47 lead.