After trailing by 10, Clippers rally to tie San Antonio Spurs 51-51 by halftime

DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre Jordan/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

The Clippers trailed 45-35 with just over six minutes to play in the first half Thursday night in Game 6 against the Spurs at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

By the time halftime rolled around, they were tied 51-51 with San Antonio.

DeAndre Jordan led the Clippers with 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in the half. Hack-a-DJ was deployed by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and Jordan responded by making 7 of 13 from the free-throw line.

J.J. Redick also had a solid half, with 14 points.

Marco Belinelli led the Spurs with 12 points off the bench, all on 3-pointers. Kawhi Leonard scored 10 and Tim Duncan had six points and seven rebounds, but also had three fouls.

The Clippers shot 1 of 9 from 3-point range.

Doc Rivers: Boris Diaw has come through in solid fashion for San Antonio

Boris Diaw

Boris Diaw/Photo courtesy of San Antonio Spurs, NBA.com

Spurs reserve post Boris Diaw averaged 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 24.5 minutes during the regular season for the Spurs. He entered Game 6 averaging 10.4 points and 7.0 rebounds in 28.7 minutes in the first five games of this series.

Coach Gregg Popovich was asked about Diaw’s contributions during the pregame news conference ahead of Game 6 on Thursday night in San Antonio.

“He’s doing a pretty good job,” said Popovich, who was in his short-answer mode.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers had no difficulty going into detail about what Diaw has meant to the Spurs in this series.

“I’ve heard talk about (Tim) Duncan and (Tony) Parker and (Manu) Ginobili and everyone else – and, obviously, Kawhi (Leonard) – but Diaw to me has been the quietest asset in this series,” Rivers said.

“He’s been the guy who’s made big shots, he’s made big plays. … When you just look at comfort, he’s looked so comfortable on the floor.”

Diaw has had one poor shooting game, and that came in Game 1 when he was just 2 of 12 from the field. Even then, he had six rebounds and five assists.

Chris Paul: team won’t take negative thinking about officials into Game 6

Chris Paul

Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

By now everyone knows that coach Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 for blasting officials for a number of calls that went against the Clippers in their 111-107 Game 5 loss to the Spurs in their best-of-seven series Tuesday at Staples Center.

Chris Paul assured reporters at the Thursday morning shootaround ahead of Game 6 at AT&T Center in San Antonio that the players will not be taking any anger from that into this potential elimination game for the Clippers, who are down 3-2.

“Yeah, I said, I think after that game, you let it soak in that night and then yesterday (Wednesday), it was cool,” Paul said.

If the Clippers win this one, the deciding Game 7 will be Saturday at Staples Center.

Doc Rivers has funny reaction after being fined 25K for blasting officials

2015-04-29-doc-rivers-fined

Doc Rivers/Photo by Associated Press

 

Clippers coach Doc Rivers on Wednesday was fined $25,000 for what the NBA termed “public criticism of officiating” after the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Clippers 111-107 in Game 5 of their Western Conference series Tuesday at Staples Center.

Rivers referred to several instances, including an offensive-goaltending call against Matt Barnes in the second quarter, a traveling violation on Blake Griffin in the third quarter and J.J. Redick’s sixth foul – on Tony Parker – with 48.5 seconds to play and the Clippers down 107-105.

“I don’t complain much, but I thought we got some really tough calls tonight, some brutal calls,” Rivers said postgame.

He was asked Wednesday his thoughts about the fine at the team hotel at the Riverwalk in San Antonio. And, like vintage Doc, he made a joke about it.

“It was a good call,” he said. “It was, it was a great call.”

He said he didn’t go into his rant Tuesday night knowing this would happen.

“No, no, I don’t plan … sometimes I’m smart enough to plan things, sometimes I’m not,” he said. “I just felt like it needed to be said. So, I’ll take it.”

Clippers’ Blake Griffin admitted fatigue factored into his late Game 5 struggles

Clippers#32 Blake Griffin comforts Clippers#6 DeAndre Jordan after he was called for offensive goal tending in the final seconds of the game. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 111-107 in game 5 of the first round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. Los Angeles, CA 4/28/2015 (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)

Clippers#32 Blake Griffin comforts Clippers#6 DeAndre Jordan after he was called for offensive goal tending in the final seconds of the game. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 111-107 in game 5 of the first round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. Los Angeles, CA 4/28/2015 (Photo by John McCoy Daily News)

He stormed onto the court, Blake Griffin putting his fingerprints all over a game with timely stops, accurate jumpers and athletic dunks.

Once it ended, the Clippers forward walked off nursing a soaked jersey, a sore body and gasping for breath.

The deflating feeling surrounding the Clippers’ 111-107 Game 5 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at Staples Center goes beyond trailing 3-2 in first-round series and facing a potential elimination in Game 6 in San Antonio on Thursday. Griffin’s towering presence also shrank as every exhausting minute passed.

Though he posted a team-high 30 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 41 minutes, Griffin labored through the fourth quarter as he went 1-of-9 from the field and committed three turnovers. All of which Griffin conceded partly stemmed from his series-high 41.2 minutes finally catching up.

“Down the stretch, everybody is tired,” Griffin said. “It’s a factor. But it’s a factor for everybody, so it’s not really an advantage or disadvantage for anybody.”
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