And with a series with the Warriors now in their sights, the Trail Blazers are determined to get the job done at home.
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers was forced to leave his team’s first round playoff game against the Portland Trail Blazers after a stray elbow left him with a bloody cut above his left eye.
Portland opens the next series against the reigning champion Warriors on Sunday at Oracle Arena.
CJ McCollum added 20 points for the Blazers, who became the first team to overcome a 2-0 deficit since Memphis came back against the Clippers in the first round in 2013. The wave broke out as if the series was over before the first half even ended, but the Blazers actually trailed by two after three quarters.
Paul, meanwhile, underwent surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles to fix a right hand fracture that he suffered in the third quarter of Monday’s game. The Blazers appeared to pull away when McCollum’s 3-pointer made it 98-91 with 4:49 left, but the Clippers persisted. Jordan’s tip-in closed it to 98-93, and Redick knocked in a jumper to close the gap to 98-95 with 2:50 left.
The Blazers found themselves tied 103-103 with 32 seconds left but Plumlee’s free-throws and a not-so sexy play from Lillard locked it up.
Plumlee missed the first free throw and made the second, allowing the Clippers to inbound the ball and set up some semblance of a final shot. Rivers’ desperation 3-point heave was short at the buzzer. There is no official word on when he might return. On Friday, he started Luc Mbah a Moute and Jeff Green, while Crawford and Pierce went to the bench.
In total, Rivers, a third-year player who was outstanding in the series in relief of the injured All-Star Chris Paul, made five of seven shots for 12 points in the third and got the Clippers a lead at the end of the quarter via a series of quick pullups in the lane, under the basket and out on the wing to remarkable success.
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The collision caused blood to gush from above and below Rivers’ eye, and he headed to the locker room with the trainers covering his face with a towel. Crawford picked up the slack in his absence and had 22 points in the half. Al-Farouq Aminu, Lillard and Mo Harkless followed with consecutive 3s and the Blazers used an 11-2 run to go ahead 64-60.
