Chris Paul fractured a bone in his right hand and the Clippers lost Game 4 to the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-84, as the Blazers evened the series at two games apiece.
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Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul is likely to miss the remainder of the playoffs after breaking the third metacarpal in his right hand on Monday night. After the game, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said that Griffin’s “50-50” for Game 5.
“I felt good”, Crabbe said. Last game he took four shots and they were all the same shots, so I think we all had confidence he was going to eventually break out just like Chief [Aminu].
If Golden State plays the Clippers without Paul and Griffin, they will face a team that allows 5.2 more points per 100 possessions than they score. “There’s nobody that we look at and say: he could have played harder”. “He’s worked all year to get back to the playoffs”. He was attended to by a trainer, then left for the locker room, kicking at a seat cushion on the court when he left. While the status of Paul’s return is unknown at the time, even one game in the playoffs without their star point guard would be absolutely devastating for the Clippers and their fan base.
Griffin missed a large chunk of the regular season with a partially torn quad.
But how much fight do they have left?
Mason Plumlee led the Blazers with 14 rebounds to go along with a team-high 10 assists. The Clippers kept the game close, but Portland pulled away late to keep themselves alive 2-1 in the series.
Led by Oakland native Damian Lillard, the Blazers have been one of the better stories in the National Basketball Association this season, finishing fifth in the Western Conference even after watching center LaMarcus Aldridge depart to San Antonio in free agency. The reigning MVP suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, thus giving the defending-champion Warriors every reason to wonder if they could somehow survive a potential second-round series against the Clippers without him.
Regardless, it doesn’t look good for the Clippers, who finished the season as the No. 4 team in the Western Conference.
The 25-year-old will be keen to continue with his form in the Game 5 of the Play-Off series.
He still sometimes wonders what might have happened if bruising Boston center Kendrick Perkins doesn’t get hurt early in Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals, forcing aging veteran Rasheed Wallace into the starting lineup for Game 7 in Los Angeles. Sooner or later, the percentages would come back around and the shots were start falling.
Trail Blazers: The Blazers had 12 turnovers in the first half.
The Blazers out rebounded the Clippers for the second straight game, 58-42. However, things will not be easy, as even on an off night, L.A. still came within a few possessions of beating Portland in Game 3.
But Portland’s shooting has dropped to about 37 percent overall against the Clippers, who now hold a two-game advantage going into Saturday night’s Game 3 in Portland.
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Rivers said he was more concerned with McCollum and backcourt mate Damian Lillard.
