Despite fighting hard through the loss of two superstars, pain, and even stitches, the Los Angeles Clippers weren’t enough to keep their season alive in a 106-103 Game 6 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Los Angeles Clippers were never going to be favored in Game 6 against the Portland Trail Blazers. Being down two superstars with sudden injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin left them without their floor generals and two best players, instead handing the duties to Austin Rivers at point and everyone else to step up. To overcome the fiery Blazers, armed with health and a constant heavy chip on their shoulder, the Clippers just didn’t quite have enough. And after their 106-103 loss, they’re now eliminated from the playoffs.
The night of Game 4 that saw Paul and Griffin go down within 15 minutes of one another will never be forgotten. And as the news of Griffin being out the playoffs followed the immediate heartbreak of Paul’s season coming to an abrupt end, the Clippers were dealt what could be the worst night in their franchise’s history.
They didn’t give up, though. In Game 5, they led by five points after the first half, ultimately losing due to a breakdown on offense in the second half and not having enough defense to stop the likes of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum finding space. The absence of Paul and Griffin was obviously just as glaring in Game 6, too, but as the rest of the Clippers made more shots to begin with, a cool second half wasn’t enough against the Blazers’ ball movement, increased offensive rebounding, and key three-pointers in the dying minutes.
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Jamal Crawford (32 points on 10-of-25 shooting) started hot early on, scoring 20 points in the first half alone as he stayed aggressive as his team needed, leading the offense beside Austin Rivers (21 points on 8-of-19 shooting with eight assists). They led the scoring effort alongside DeAndre Jordan, their lone saviour on the glass with 20 rebounds and 15 points.
Even as the Clippers kept the score close, holding a 82-80 lead at the start of the fourth quarter despite having such a poor night from three-point range (4-of-16), the Blazers benefited from 18 offensive rebounds and pulled away thanks to a shooting barrage in the last few minutes.
Through the painful loss that closed on a three-point heave at the final buzzer, it was Austin Rivers who summed up the end of the Clippers’ season so well, dealing with more physical pain than anyone else and fighting on regardless.
Rivers suffered a hard (accidental) elbow from Al-Farouq Aminu as they both flew after a rebound, sending him to the floor as his face bled just above his left eye, causing him to receive 11 stitches. It wasn’t enough to keep him out the game, though, as Rivers returned well, playing solid defense and doing all he could to spark a scoring effort, all while fighting off bleeding in timeouts as his vision gradually decreased.
“That’s what he is, a street fighter,” Doc Rivers said of his son to the Orange County Register’s Dan Woike.
And after dealing with just criticisms in the past of having no toughness, and still suffering at times earlier this season because of it, Doc said the same of his team after going down in the manner they did. On top of Rivers’ nasty injury, Jordan battled through a bad ankle and J.J. Redick played hard through a bruised heel that’s bothered him for the entire series.
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“That team had more heart than any team I’ve ever seen,” he said of his gritty unit, who fought against pain and so many unfavourable odds on their way to an emotional loss.
Now, the team are forced to live with another early exit from the playoffs, which seems so wrong considering everything they overcame in the regular season with Griffin’s injury, and how they were briefly favored to make the Western Conference Finals as Stephen Curry went down with a MCL sprain.
Who knows what’s next for the Clippers now. Will the core be blown up? Will the Big 3 become a reduced Big 2? How many of the countless free agents will leave Los Angeles?
Next: Will the Clippers lose patience with their core?
This summer will pose many questions for the Clippers. Yet, despite the immense injury-ridden turnaround to have another season end in disappointment, the team knows that they couldn’t have fought much harder in a search for unlikely playoff magic.