MIAMI – It was 11:20 p.m., and Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford had slipped out the back door of his news conference and marched out to his seat on the bus. He had the dome light on, his ear to the phone and history’s greatest NBA playoff closer on the line.
“Michael was happy,” Clifford told the Vertical, “but …”
A little later on Wednesday night, as his players waited to be whisked away from an improbable Game 5 victory on the shores of Biscayne Bay, Clifford was back outside and trying to get his mind on Game 6, the biggest of his coaching career.