Game 5 between the Clippers and Blazers is back in Los Angeles on Thursday night.
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Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul faces an indefinite injury lay-off with a broken hand while Blake Griffin will miss the rest of the season, the National Basketball Association team announced on Tuesday.
The Clippers were also hurt late in the game when Blake Griffin appeared to aggravate the left quad injury that he struggled with this season.
After losing big time in the first two games at Staples Center, they found some added steam in their home court, managing to keep up and tie the series, 2-2, thanks to a 96-88 victory in Game 3 and a 98-84 rout in Game 4.
Through the first four games of the series, the Clippers were +13.2 points per 100 possessions with Paul on the floor.
Bismack Biyombo had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Raptors, who can clinch the first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history by beating the Pacers in IN on Friday night. They are up 3-2 and could close it out Friday in Portland.
In an odd start to Wednesday’s game, the Blazers and Clippers played in front of a almost empty Staples Center. “It’s just really insane what we’ve seen the last 48 hours”.
Mike Scott led the Hawks with 17 points, while Bazemore and Jeff Teague added 16 apiece.
Without their two best players, it is understandable that the Clippers changed things up with their lineup.
Austin Rivers started just seven times during the regular season, and Jamal Crawford, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, started just five times. The Blazers lost that game 126-122 as three-point home chalk and dropped six of seven against the Clippers before winning the last two at home, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.
“We don’t have to be the best team”.
Life still won’t be easy for Golden State as it goes forward in the immediate future without the MVP, but considering the alternatives, a matchup against a weakened Clippers team or a talented but inexperienced Blazers squad just delivered the Warriors a needed boost to their shot at a repeat. They were up, but sometimes you get up too much.
It was a 71-71 game at the start of the third quarter, but the Blazers dominated the final frame.
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The slim chance that the Clippers have to pull out of their series with Portland victorious won’t mean much because the Warriors – safely assuming they don’t blow a 3-1 series lead to the Houston Rockets – won’t have any mercy on them. And we know that.
