Jamal Crawford/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

Not that Jamal Crawford is the type to lose confidence, but he had to have breathed a sign of relief after his performance in Sunday’s 107-92 victory over the defending NBA-champion San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series at Staples Center.

Crawford scored 17 points. More importantly, he shot 7 of 10 from the field – 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Considering he had made just 10 of 36 shots (27.7 percent) in the final four regular-season games after missing the previous 17 with a calf injury, that was more than noteworthy. That’s probably why Crawford couldn’t stop smiling afterward.

“Me and Chris (Paul) talk about it all the time,” Crawford said. “We’re consumed in basketball every single day of our lives. To be out five weeks and not be able to do anything but watch, I mean, you can take some good things from it.

“But it was more bad than good for me because you want to be out there so bad and help your team and just be part of the guys. … The injury is one thing, then coming back and conditioning and trying to get a rhythm, all that stuff sucks. But you’ve go to go through the process sometimes.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night at Staples Center.