The Game ended and Houston celebrated as they had just completed one of the most stunning comebacks in playoff history, becoming the 9th team ever to comeback from a 3-1 deficit.
Some of the Clippers players described the defeat as a "bad dream" but luckily they'll have the whole summer to try and wake up from it. Even and hour after the buzzer sounded J.J. Redick was still in a state of shock with the result of this game and frankly, the result of the last 3 games.
“Sadness, disappointment,” Redick added. “You never want to equate sports with death, but it does feel like a wake or a funeral.”
Jamal Crawford felt a flurry of emotions as he struggled to piece the events of the last few days together. From anger to complete sadness it was a "combination of everything" for the Clippers shooting guard that struggled at times this series.
As tough as it was to believe that the Clippers failed to close out a 3-1 series lead it did happen and it's likely that the whole "Clipper Curse" thing is likely to resurface.
“Game 6 we stopped playing, took our foot off the pedal,” said Blake Griffin. “We got tight. You could say self-inflicted, whatever you want to call it. It’s on us. We put ourselves in this situation and made it tough for ourselves. You can’t do that.”
“Give them credit,” Rivers said. “I thought this series changed in Game 5. I thought they were ready to go home if we supplied the pressure, and we didn’t. After that, I thought they looked at it like, ‘Hey, listen, even though we’re down 3-2, there’s only one home game each.’
It's likely Game 6 will haunt the Clippers for a long time considering they game up a 19 point lead and let Houston come back. Unlike Game 7, the Clippers controlled the momentum for 3 quarters of Game 5 yet took their foot of the pedal for the 4th which cost them, in Game 7 it was literally the other way around yet the Clips couldn't complete a comeback.
“The one thing I thought coming into this game, at least to our staff, was not getting behind too quickly,” Rivers said. “In the seventh game, you feel pressure, right? The one thing you don’t want to do is let the home team get a lead. If it’s two or three, it’s one thing, but once you get that double-digit lead, they’re at home, they’re comfortable.”
There were chances throughout where it appeared the Clippers could make a run to tie or go ahead. They brought a 15-point deficit in the second quarter down to six, but it ballooned back up to 10 by halftime. They got within three points in the third quarter, but that quickly turned back into an 11-point deficit.
“Every time we made a run, they hit a big shot,” said Chris Paul. “Tonight, James shot more free throws than we shot as a team. You can’t let him have the threes, the free throws and the lay-ups. A lot of credit goes to Houston. They beat us.”
Now the Clippers look to the off-season in which their top priority is "resigning DeAndre Jordan" and fixing the broken Clippers bench that just couldn't compete with Houston's. Although It's likely he returns Doc still called his free agency as a concern as it should be until DJ puts pen to paper for the Clips.
Paul finished with 26 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Griffin had 27 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. DeAndre Jordan added 16 points and 17 rebounds. The trio combined to shoot 29-of-53, but the rest of the Clippers combined to go 12-for-39.
As much as some players saw growth in the team, that silver lining was tougher to fathom for Paul, who once again came close but not as close as he’d like to getting to the Western Conference Finals and, potentially, a championship series.
“So close, I don’t even know what that means anymore,” Paul said. “I don’t know. Like Ricky Bobby says, ‘If you’re not first, you’re last.’ Getting close ain’t good enough.”
No comments:
Post a Comment