Indiana's Yogi Ferrell Makes NBA Conference Finals After Clippers' Historic Win
LOS ANGELES – Former Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell doesn't see a lot of action with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he still became part of something historic on Friday night.
The Clippers beat the No. 1-seeded Utah Jazz 131-109 in Game 6 on Friday night to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in team history. The Clippers franchise, which started in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, has never once played in a conference final.
The Clippers lost the first two games in the series, but then won four straight against Utah, whose 52-20 record during the regular season was the best in the league. They also did it without first-team All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, who missed the last two games with a knee injury.
They will play the Phoenix Suns in the conference final. The best-of-seven series starts Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET
Ferrell, who played at Indiana from 2013 to 2016 and is the school's all-time assist leader, has bounced around the NBA during his five-year pro career. He signed with the Clippers in late April when their backcourt was decimated by injuries. He had played with Cleveland briefly earlier this year, and has played in Brooklyn, Sacramento and Dallas previously.
Ferrell has played just eight minutes thus far in the playoffs now that guards Patrick Beverley and Reggie Jackson are back and healthy. During the regular season, he played in eight games after signing, and averaged 4.6 points a game.
Ferrell just played the final minute during Friday's win, where the Clippers erased a 22-point halftime deficit. But after facing a 75-50 deficit, the Clippers went on an 81-47 run over the final 23 minutes of the game to take down the Jazz. It was the largest series-clinching comeback in the past 25 years.
The Clippers made a franchise-record 14 three-pointers in the second half, making 74 percent of their long balls. Terance Mann, a second-year wing from Florida State, scored a career-high 39 points, including seven three-pointers.
Juwan Morgan, Ferrell's former teammate at Indiana, is on the Utah Jazz roster. He, too, played sparingly in the playoffs.
The Clippers have been the come-from-behind kids in these NBA playoffs thus far. They were down 2-0 to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round before coming back to clinch the series in seven games. They went one better against the Jazz, falling behind 2-0, but then winning four straight.
