The first non-Paul field goal by the Clippers came on a DeAndre Jordan dunk with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
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It was not clear exactly how the nine-time All-Star was injured, but it appeared he may have bent his wrist awkwardly when defending Portland’s Gerald Henderson on a layup.
Plumlee made just 1 of 6 shots, but finished with 14 rebounds and 10 assists.
Instead, the Clippers only trailed by four points after 12 minutes. Jeff Green also had 17 off the bench.
The teams will head back to Miami for Game 5 on Wednesday night, with a Game 6 now assured for Friday night in Charlotte. Dwight Powell came off the bench to score 16 points and grab nine rebounds.
“There’s things you guys [media] will never see, it’s a nice thing in the locker room the whole team is in the training room”.
Paul was obviously the bigger loss, leaving with 16 points, four assists and three steals in nearly 25 minutes.
The 25-year-old will be keen to continue with his form in the Game 5 of the Play-Off series. The Thunder lost Game 2 85-84 at home, then won three straight, including two on the road in an often testy series.
Now, however, the Clippers will need to play without a player who will get plenty of lower-level MVP votes, and the playoffs – which had been really uneventful to date - have taken on a completely different look. Damian Lillard led from the front with 32 points on 10 of 20 shooting while CJ McCollum added 27 points as the Blazers shot 42.5 percent from the field and six of 25 from the 3-point line. In Griffin’s absence, Paul’s brilliance helped keep Los Angeles afloat and in the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. “We had a great opportunity to go up 3-0 and on Monday we’ll have an opportunity to go up 3-1”. The third-year guard answered the call in Game Four with a playoff career-high of 12 points on a flawless 5-of-5 from the field, including two three pointers. They were led by a surprise breakout performance from forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who scored 30 points in their game 4 win.
Portland jumped to a 12-4 lead, with Aminu scoring eight of the points.
Clippers: Redick has been bothered by a sore left heel that has limited him in practice.
Coach Doc Rivers said both players would be examined by team doctors on Tuesday. As for Griffin, Rivers said, “It doesn’t look good for him either”.
Trail Blazers: Aminu also had 10 rebounds.
The victor of the series will face the victor of the series between Golden State and Houston.
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The Clippers aren’t the only team facing major injuries, though: Golden State Warriors star, Stephen Curry, has been sidelined for at least two weeks with a knee injury. “He’s the guy that gets them going and can single-handedly change the game”. “The rebounding was the biggest thing because that’s been kind of a weak point for us in the series, but his passing, he’s been doing that all year for us”.
