On This Day: Chris Paul, Clippers Eliminate Spurs in Game 7
Five years ago today, the LA Clippers achieved one of the greatest feats in franchise history: Taking down the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
In all honesty, the two teams never should have met that early. The Western Conference was wildly competitive that season and only a game separated the No. 2 seeded Houston Rockets from the No. 6 seeded Spurs. Due to some unfortunate tiebreakers, the Clippers got a very tough draw.
It was a back-and-forth series. The first four games were split evenly, but a 111-107 win in Game 5 for the Spurs pushed the Clippers to the brink of elimination. Fortunately, LA had arguably its best defensive game of the series in Game 6, holding San Antonio to 96 points. With that, the stage was set for the all-important Game 7 in Los Angeles.
The intensity was there throughout the game, and it was obvious how much both teams wanted to win. The box score reflects that passion: Per Basketball-Reference, there were 16 ties and 31 lead changes (12 in the fourth quarter alone) over those 48 minutes, and the largest lead for either team was 8 points.
San Antonio controlled things early on, taking a 19-11 lead halfway through the first quarter before the Clippers came back to tie it at 32 early in the second. From there, neither team gave the other an inch — even after Chris Paul suffered what ended up being a significant hamstring strain.
The Spurs captured momentum late in the third quarter when Manu Ginobili drew a shooting foul beyond halfcourt, but the Clippers quickly took it back after Paul launched a 37-foot jumper to take a 79-78 lead going into the final frame.
Both teams kept it close in the fourth quarter. The largest lead for either side was 5 points, though it only took a couple of possessions for the game to be tied up again. Overtime looked like a likely scenario. Either that, or it was going to come down to whoever had the ball last.
It was bucket for bucket in the final few minutes until Kawhi Leonard missed a jumper that gave the Clippers the ball with less than a minute to play. LA took its time on the possession that followed, and Paul ended up sinking two free throws with 13 seconds left on the clock to give his team a 109-107 lead.
The Clippers fouled on the other end and put Tim Duncan at the line, who made both and put LA under a lot of pressure with 9 ticks left.
It was Paul, barely able to run at this point, who sank the game-winner.
LA got the ball inbounds to Blake Griffin at the top of the key, who handed it off to Paul. With Danny Green draped on him, Paul drove to the right side and attacked the basket. He stopped just before the low block and shook off Green, with Duncan coming over to help. Paul lifted and sent a floater toward the backboard, which came off the glass and fell perfectly through the net with one second to play.
Staples Center erupted while both teams went to the sidelines for one final timeout.
The final second of the game was a bit controversial. Almost as soon as the official handed the ball to Boris Diaw, who was inbounding for the Spurs, the game clock went off early. San Antonio didn't get a play off, but the players went through their motions — giving LA an indication of what they were planning to do.
Both teams and the clock reset, and the Spurs tried it again. Diaw threw the ball up to Leonard in the paint, where Matt Barnes was waiting to swat away the ball. With that, the game ended, and the Clippers had moved on.
Paul finished the game with 27 points and 6 assists, and his injury ended up causing him to miss the first two games of the series that followed. Often lost in all this is the fact that Griffin recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
Jamal Crawford, who scored 16 points off the bench for LA, delivered a perfect quote per FOX Sports about the game and the series:
"If you wrote a script for a movie I think that's how the ending would be. To have 31 lead changes, this series is going to pay dividends because San Antonio is the blueprint. We showed a lot of growth. I think this is the most growth we've shown in franchise history. We still have work to do but tonight we can enjoy and understand what we did."
For a franchise known for its inadequacy, a postseason victory over the defending champions was about as good as it could get. Even five years later, it's still considered to be one of the greatest moments in the team's history and of the decade in the NBA.
Those Lob City teams never did make it further than the second round of the playoffs, but they did more for the franchise than any team that came before them. And for that, moments like these are worth remembering.
FOX Sports Prime Ticket will show Game 7 in its entirety this coming Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m. PT. If you can't wait to see Paul's clutch shot again, check out full game highlights below:
