This was worse than Game 5 in Oklahoma City last year.
The Clippers were playing a clearly inferior opponent. They had a bigger lead. There was more at stake.
With 2:34 remaining in the third quarter, Chris Paul nailed a jumper and the Clips took an imposing 19-point lead, 89-70. The Clippers had never been this close to a conference finals berth, and all they had to do was maintain a double-digit lead over the final 14:34.
And then ... they collapsed.
"What could have went wrong went wrong," coach Doc Rivers said.
Shots that were falling earlier stopped dropping. The Clippers became timid, wasting too much clock and passing up open looks. Josh Smith and Corey Brewer (a combined 29 fourth-quarter points) took over and finished the job Dwight Howard and James Harden -- who sat the entire fourth quarter -- couldn't.
"You know, I thought we were trying to run the clock out, and we stopped playing," Rivers said. "They kept playing, and then once it got to eight, you could just feel it.
"We did get some great shots, and I think we missed wide-open threes, lay-ups, you know, dunks, and each miss, I thought the pressure mounted, honestly."
The fourth-quarter ledger: Rockets 40, Clippers 15. Los Angeles made one field goal in the final 6:47.
And just like that, the Rockets turned a 13-point deficit heading into the fourth into an impressive and shocking 119-107 Game 6 win, evening the series at 3-3 and forcing a Game 7 in Houston on Sunday.
"Yeah, we did," Rivers said when asked if his team collapsed in the fourth.
There is still another game to be played, but if the Clippers fall short and start their summer vacation early, they'll never live this debacle of a loss down. Here are five takeaways from Game 6:
The root of the problem
The Clippers stopped playing to win in the fourth quarter, and instead started playing not to lose. Their offense gummed up, and guys started playing hot potato with the ball. By the time they realized what was happening and tried to address their lack of offensive rhythm, it was too late. "We just weren't getting the ball in the net," Chris Paul said. "We looked very stagnant on offense." This isn't the first time this has happened in the postseason -- the Clippers "collapsed" down the stretch of Games 2 and 5 against the Spurs. Granted, those weren't games they ever led by 19, which is why this loss is inexcusable.
Somebody, anybody, please help
Blake Griffin (28 points, 8 rebounds) and Paul (31 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists) did their jobs, and DeAndre Jordan still found a way to be productive (8 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks) despite having somewhat of an off-night. But when J.J. Redick, Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers combine to shoot 14-of-46 (5-of-24 on 3s), none of that matters. There are a slew of reasons why the Clippers lost the last two games; however, if their role players aren't making open shots, an already top-heavy roster becomes even more predictable and dependent on its stars, and thus is extremely beatable. The Clips will need those four to shoot much better to have any shot in Game 7.
Cleaning glass
The winner of each game has also won the rebounding battle, which could just be a coincidence -- or, more likely, it could just indicate the losing team had a poor shooting night, inflating the victor's rebounding numbers. The Rockets dominated the boards tonight, 60-41, tying their rebounding margin in Game 5 (which they won by 21 points). Their 15-4 edge on the offensive glass was especially costly, giving them a 26-5 edge in second-chance points. Once again, the Clips' inability to corral defensive rebounds and limit second looks cost them a winnable contest.
What's at stake
It goes without saying that the Clippers need to win Game 7 on Sunday -- not just to keep their season alive, and avoid all the media criticism from blowing a 3-1 series, but possibly to keep the core of the team together. DeAndre Jordan is a free agent this summer, and although the Clippers can offer him the most money to stay, there are rumblings he will test the market. If the Clips lose a series in this manner, there may be legitimate concern over whether a team can truly compete for a championship with Griffin, Paul and Jordan as its three best players. It sounds ridiculous -- the answer should be an obvious yes -- but devastating playoff losses can cause unforeseen shakeups.
The (potential) road ahead
If the Clippers mentally rally and recover, win Game 7 and advance to the next round (my prediction), they'll have a bitter rival awaiting them. The Golden State Warriors are their likely opponent, but even if the Memphis Grizzlies rally and advance, the Clips will be facing their toughest and most physical foe of the postseason. Both the Warriors and Grizzlies are elite defensive ball clubs with polar opposite approaches to offense -- the Warriors like to push the pace, move the ball and drain 3s; the Grizzlies can't shoot, and instead prefer to to post up and play smashmouth basketball. On paper, the Grizzlies are a slightly easier matchup -- the Clippers would have home-court advantage, and the Grizzlies' inability to shoot can bog down their offense. Either way, the conference finals will be brutal. Now the Clippers just have to get there.
