That Game You Turned Off In The Third? Yeah, The Clippers Won.

About the only person who saw it coming was Lionel Hollins.  “Fool’s gold,” Hollins called his team’s red-hot three-point shooting during a mid-game sideline interview.  Although his point was clear–Memphis finished the season ranked 23rd in long-range shooting–I think even he probably figured his pyrite would pass for 14 karats for the duration of game one.  Trailing by 24 with just under 12 minutes to go, the floundering Clippers would need the biggest comeback in fourth-quarter playoff history to steal a victory and take homecourt advantage in their postseason opener.  With Chris Paul playing like a dude with a sore groin, Blake Griffin looking ill-prepared for the stage, and Caron Butler out of commission with a broken left hand… it seemed pretty unlikely.  With under eight minutes to go and a 20-point margin still looming, it seemed impossible.

Thirty-five Clipper points later, Kenyon Martin is asked to defend Rudy Gay.  Gay is about to take a mid-range jump shot that will decide the outcome of the game.

“It’s a shame,” Chris Paul told Craig Sager after the game.  “It’s a shame to see how we can play at the end of the game.”

Interesting way to look at the most epic comeback in NBA playoff history, but those who have spent the ’11/12 season riding the Clipper roller coaster understand all too well why he chose to put it like that.

Once again, it was the giver of life, Eric Bledsoe, who sparked a 12-2 run with three buckets.  He’s been extremely effective in making things happen when his team is in desperate need of a positive development, which is why I listed him as a potential “X-Factor” in this series.  Still, the Clippers trailed by 13 with less than six minutes to go.  Even though Memphis had suddenly gone ice cold, it was still a long shot..er..three 24-foot shots from Nick Young.  Young, who has really only had one good game since joining the Clippers on trade deadline day, knocked down three straight threes between 2:47 and 1:47 to bring the Clipps within three.  Meanwhile, Reggie Evans had checked in to take control of the boards.  He’d already corralled 8 fourth-quarter rebounds by the time Young’s streak wrapped up.

There were just a minute and 30 seconds to go at that point, but the tables had turned.  Memphis, in a state of shock, proceeded to turn the ball over.  Blake Griffin managed to sink a pair of free throws, Zach Randolph missed a ten-footer, and Reggie Evans contributed two of the most important points he’11 ever score in his life.  Finally, the Clippers had taken their first lead of the game.  It would be short lived as Rudy Gay connected on a jump shot, but Chris Paul would get himself to the stripe on the ensuing Clipper possession.  He made both, bringing us to the aforementioned Rudy Gay mid-range jumper.  Credit Kenyon Martin, one of the game’s most underappreciated multi-positional defenders, for making the shot similarly difficult to the one Kevin Durant miraculously made on Saturday night.  Gay was the recipient of no such luck.  The Clippers, who trailed by as many as 27 and led for just 45 seconds, had pulled it off.

The way the Clippers got back into this game was pretty unusual.  They almost did it quietly, sneaking up on the Grizzlies while things appeared to remain in hand.  Although the lead had been significantly trimmed prior to Nick Young’s explosion, a 12-point margin at the three-minute mark seemed pretty damn safe.  Young’s sudden outburst toppled Memphis’s house of cards in an instant, like a swift, firm breeze.  The Grizzlies’ outside shots wouldn’t fall anymore, yet they’d fallen for them.  Marc Gasol, who had been killing it early with 14 points and 6 assists, posted two statistics in the fourth quarter: a foul and a turnover.  He hardly touched the ball.

Memphis finished 11-16 (69%) from three.  The numbers almost make me feel crazy to say they died by the perimeter jumper… but they did.  For this reason I feel that the Grizzlies can take something from this loss, though.  They’re fortunate to have gotten it out of the way in the beginning, assuming they learn two lessons: don’t go away from your strengths, and don’t ever, EVER let up on the Clippers.  One of the most wonderful aspects of Chris Paul is that he always thinks his team can win.  According to Paul, he implored Vinny Del Negro to put him back in the game when it seemed out of reach.  Although the comeback outlines the frustration in rooting for the Clippers–they just can’t seem to string together 48 minutes of their best basketball–it also defines the unfathomable willpower of one Chris Paul.  I’ll be the first to get on his case for the constant flopping, complaining, and occasional dirty play, but man, he’s a winner if I’ve ever seen one.

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Since all three of the other games were essentially blowouts I decided to focus the majority of my attention to the Clippers’ historic comeback.  Here are a few thoughts on other things…

  • Jeff Van Gundy on Nuggets/Lakers: “I like how Denver attacks the rim, but I just don’t know if they have the finishers due to lack of size.”  Bingo.  The Nuggets had 15 of their shots blocked in that blowout loss, ten of which they released directly into the hands of Andrew Bynum.  Bynum tends to look like a man amongst boys against Denver because, well, he basically is.  Hell, even Jordan Hill is too tall for the Nuggets… he went for 10 points, 10 boards, and a pair of blocks.  I’m not at all surprised by Bynum’s triple-double and I expect that he’ll continue to dominate Denver like he’s playing in the driveway against five of his little brothers.  This probably sounds stupid, but I thought Bynum was so dominant in yesterday’s game that it wasn’t even impressive.  He hardly even had to leave his feet to rack up 10/13/10, yet he had Al Harrington so rattled he was air balling layups.
  • The Celtics still can’t rebound.  They gave up 18 boards to Josh Smith and 10 more to Ivan Johnson and Tracy McGrady, who only played 29 combined minutes.  They still could’ve been in position to win the game had they been able to score, but their offense looked stagnant and produced a lot of late-clock shots that didn’t go in.  They missed all 11 of their three-point attempts and got to the stripe just 13 times.  Things are only going to get more difficult in game two as it looks like they’ll be without Rajon Rondo (making purposeful contact with an official is an auto suspension).  I’m sorry, Rajon, but that was a stupid move.  The official had turned his back and was prepared to walk away.  Continue yapping and you’re probably fine, but you can’t pursue him, let alone bump him.
  • Watch Kevin Garnett’s reaction after Josh Smith hits a huge jumper in his face.  I feel you, KG, but the percentages will average out before the series is through.
  • San Antonio played a beautiful third quarter against the Utah Jazz.  They got their inside-outside game on as they took their lead from 7 to 15, with Tim Duncan scoring 10 before Stephen Jackson and Matt Bonner capped it off with back-to-back threes.  Manu Ginobili made a few excellent passes.  No team is playing better basketball than the San Antonio Spurs right now.
  • Zach Randolph is in better shape than you thought.  He can dunk with two hands (no one uploaded this?), and do three push ups!
  • Doris Burke should be sent to Indiana to call the series no one is watching.
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