Seventh heaven?
Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will play in a fourth Game 7 as Clippers teammates when they face the Houston Rockets on Sunday at Toyota Center. Here’s a look at the three previous games, all Clippers victories:
CLIPPERS 82, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 72
The Clippers had taken a 3-1 lead in the 2012 first-round series, only to lose Game 5 at FedEx Forum and fare no better upon their return to Staples Center in Game 6 when they couldn’t hold an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. Then they went back to Memphis and gritted-and-ground the Grizzlies into submission in a low-scoring victory. “I just remember us winning that game and flying to San Antonio” for the second round, Paul said. “We all went to dinner at some little place and got tacos. And then we got swept.”
CLIPPERS 126, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 121
The Clippers had missed one closeout opportunity in the 2014 first-round series when they lost Game 6 in Oakland and things didn’t look any better when they fell behind by 12 points early in the second quarter of Game 7. It didn’t matter. Paul, Griffin and Jordan combined for 64 points and the Clippers made all six free throws in the final 12 seconds to vanquish their hated rivals.
CLIPPERS 111, SAN ANTONIO SPURS 109
This could go down as the gutsiest performance of Paul’s career. After straining his left hamstring in the first quarter, Paul returned to make a one-legged, one-handed jumper over the outstretched hand of San Antonio’s Tim Duncan to end a classic first-round series in which the Clippers rallied from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits.