Prior to Game 2's tip-off, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked about the adjustments his coaching staff planned to make after Game 1's blowout loss.
Popovich joked that he wouldn't be making any tactical adjustments, and that the only way his team would win was if they made more shots, took better care of the ball, and got back in transition against the Clippers' athletes.
It sounded simple and sarcastic, as Popovich's snarky responses tend to be. But his psychic remark was spot on.
The Spurs shot better (+9.6 percent field-goal percent increase), cut down their turnovers (five less), and limited the Clippers' transition attack (eight less fastbreak points). And yet, despite the Spurs playing so much better than last game, the Clippers still somehow found themselves up two points, 94-92, with 50 seconds remaining.
All they had to do was close out the game. A win, and they head to San Antonio with a commanding 2-0 lead. A loss, and it's a trip to the River Walk facing a potential series-clinching deficit.
The Clippers forced Kawhi Leonard into a tough 12-foot miss, and then pressured Marco Bellinelli into a bad pass and turnover. The game was theirs. They just had to either score or get one more stop.
But Blake Griffin, who had played amazingly and messed around and got a triple-double (29 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists), inexplicably drove into a crowd of Spurs and had the ball stolen by Boris Diaw stole the ball. Diaw found a leaking Patty Mills in transition, and Chris Paul had no choice but to foul him on a layup. After Mills nailed both free throws to tie the game with eight seconds remaining, Paul missed a game-winning step-back jumper over Tim Duncan's outstretched arms, and the Clippers eventually lost in overtime, 111-107.
For as bad as the Clips played for most of the evening, they were still able to rally in the fourth, and had the game in their grasp. In Clippers coach Doc Rivers' eyes, there's a lot of positive in that realization, even if the loss is disappointing.
"I don't know if we played our best game tonight," Rivers said. "I think that was pretty obvious, yet we still had a chance and you could say should have won the game, but we didn't. It tells me a lot of things. Number one: This is going to be a hell of a series, and we'll be ready for Game 3."
Here are five takeaways from Game 2:
Deja vu?
The end of Wednesday night's game was eerily similar to last postseason's Game 5 collapse in Oklahoma City. It wasn't as catastrophic or painful, but the ramifications could ultimately be the same. The Clips had a chance to take command of the series and possibly end it in five games. Now, they have to worry about winning at least one in San Antonio, as if they lose both Games 3 and 4, this series is likely over. They didn't deserve to win this game with how much better the Spurs were for most of the contest, but once the Clippers had control of the game late, they had to close it out. Last year's loss cost them the series; will this year's, too?
He's officially back, ladies and gentlemen
The Spurs simply have no answer for Blake Griffin. He's too quick for Tim Duncan. He's too athletic for Boris Diaw. He's too strong for Tiago Splitter. He's too everything for Aron Baynes. Griffin is doing whatever he wants in this series so far -- he's scoring off post-ups, drives from the elbow, pick-and-pops, pick-and-rolls -- which allows his underrated passing to shine. All of the rest he's had this season is finally paying off -- he looks more explosive than at any other point this season, and is playing just as effective as he did last year, when he was the clear-cut third-best player alive. If he keeps this up, the Clips will be in good shape.
Beauty and the bench
In Game 1, Rivers went with an all-bench lineup to start the second quarter, and the Spurs quickly went on a 10-0 run in less than two minutes. In Game 2, however, Rivers kept Griffin and J.J. Redick out with the second unit, and the group actually outscored the Spurs 12-4 and took back the lead. In the beginning of the fourth, though, Rivers played four bench players, and the Spurs promptly extended their lead from four to nine. At this point, Rivers has to keep at least two starters on the floor at all times. It's physically taxing, and could cost the team later in the playoffs, but they won't advance if any bench-centric lineup is forced to play significant minutes. It's a major issue against a team with the Spurs' depth.
Trickle-down effect
With the Clippers essentially playing six-on-12 right now (the starters plus Jamal Crawford), the margin for error for the team's top six players is slim to none. They each have to perform well, and if anyone struggles, as Matt Barnes, Redick and Crawford did tonight (they shot a combined 6 of 22 from beyond the arc), the Clips are in trouble. Luckily no one battled foul trouble, but if Jordan, Barnes or Paul has to sit because of foul issues, the already shaky defense will take a major hit. The same can be said if any of the top six other than Barnes is missing on offense. Depth isn't as much of an issue in the playoffs because you don't play back-to-backs, but the Clips' bench is basically non-existent, and that's a real problem.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda
This is a horrible loss for the Clippers. There's no way to sugarcoat it. They could've, and should've, won this game. But the silver lining in tonight's loss is that the Clips have now gone toe-to-toe with perhaps the best team in the conference for nine quarters (well, eight and one overtime period) and outplayed them in over half of them. They look like the better team. Sure, they've been playing at home, and the Spurs have been uncharacteristically missing shots they normally make. But the Clips' defense has been on a string for large stretches, and their offense is humming against a stellar defense. The Clips may hang their heads after this loss, but they've done better than most pundits predicted up to this point.
