Doc Rivers used intense film session as non-traditional motivational speech (VIDEO)

Doc Rivers has said he thinks motivational speeches are overdone. He even said he wasn't going to give one before Game 4 against the Spurs in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, even though the Clippers were blown out in Game 3.

Rivers used non-traditional speeches, of sorts, to inspire the Clippers before Sunday's pivotal 114-105 Game 4 victory over the Spurs in San Antonio.

His pointed words were different for every player as he critiqued everyone in a film session at the team's hotel near the River Walk on Saturday.

It was Fiesta Week outside -- San Antonio's 10-day party filled with street parades, food and fun -- and a horror movie inside.

The Clippers watched their ugly, offensive 100-76 Game 3 blowout loss while Rivers pointed out their mistakes and what they needed to do better. They were there for a while.

"We had a two-hour film session. Doc pretty much went at all of us," Chris Paul said. "He told us when it comes to the playoffs, it's the players. We tried to come out aggressive both ends, offensively and defensively.

"We've got to find a way to not let games like Game 3 happen for us to respond like this. The great teams come out like that regardless. Hopefully, we learned something (Sunday)."

The Clippers evened the series at 2 and Game 5 Tuesday at Staples Center (starting at 7 p.m. on PrimeTicket). The series is assured of returning to San Antonio for Game 6 on Thursday with a Game 7, if necessary, back in Los Angeles.

Doc Rivers deemed change was necessary and his motivational tactic was watching all those mistakes, talking about each player in no uncertain terms, and showing them how to fix it.

"It was hard to watch because you see all the stuff you did wrong," Austin Rivers said. "It was good for us. We held each other accountable in the meeting. Guys said what they had to say. It helped us. it was a big growing moment. We've got to keep going. The series is tied. We didn't win. We have a lot of work to do."

They did plenty of work on Sunday in Game 4, with everyone playing well. This time, the Clippers took an early lead, unlike Game 3 when they fell behind fast from the opening tip.  J.J. Redick found open space off screens and good looks for the first time in the series. Jamal Crawford rebounded from his 1-for-11 shooting night. Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin played the way stars are supposed to perform in the postseason.

Austin Rivers spelled Paul when CP3 played with five fouls. Glen Davis filled in well for Jordan when Doc Rivers took DJ out in the fourth quarter since the Spurs went to their hack-a-DJ strategy. Gregg Popovich had a screaming fit on one possession when Tiago Splitter couldn't hear that he was imploring him to foul Jordan. It was impossible not to notice Popovich's wild gestures.

And when Doc Rivers took Jordan out, the coach nullified the Spurs' strategy and the Clippers made shots and withstood several fourth-quarter runs by San Antonio. Paul made six consecutive free throws during one stretch to help seal a rare road win for any NBA team in San Antonio.

And it all went back to Rivers' motivational speech ... errr, film session chat.

"I knew we were still angry Saturday," Redick said. "That's a good thing. I knew we locked in and still angry. It's good to play with emotion and have that focus on what needs to be done. I expected us to play well (Sunday), and we did."

Said Blake Griffin: "The thing we took away (from the film session) was that we don't have to change our game plan. We don't have to change our schemes. We just have to do what we were supposed to do better, and we didn't do that (in Game 3). I want to say we didn't do a single thing that we wanted to do Friday and (Game 4) was different. We just came out with a different spirit, and it was great to see."

And it was interesting to see the results of Doc Rivers' motivational speech. It wasn't traditional, but it yielded typical results.