LOS ANGELES – All the momentum swung to the shorthanded, amped-up Clippers. Then, they had time to exhale.
“They were just up,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “Sometimes, you get up too much.”
The Clippers heard every criticism about the state of their shorthanded group and their slim chances without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin leading up to Game 5. And, for 24 minutes, they put everything they had on the floor, leading by as many as eight points in the second quarter and going to halftime with a five-point lead against the full-strength Trail Blazers.