NBA Basketball Matchup: Clippers vs Spurs Game 1
The Clippers needed all seven games to put away the Memphis Grizzlies in round one.
The Clippers needed all seven games to put away the Memphis Grizzlies in round one.
THE STORY: The Memphis Grizzlies barely edged the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage, putting them in position to host Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 7.
The Memphis Grizzlies won game five by roaring out of the gate and dominating the first quarter. After that they played the Clippers pretty evenly which doesn’t exactly lead one to believe that this team is going to extend the series to another game.
The Clippers won Game 3 by 1 point so they still have home court advantage in this series, but they struggled from the line in the game and almost blew a late lead.
This is a battle of two teams who are battling for playoff positioning.
The Clippers are surging winners of 3 straight and 8 of their last 10 and on top of that they beat the Thunder last week. The Thunder are still in the top spot in the Western Conference, but they only have a slim 1-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Los Angeles Clippers will head to Oklahoma City aiming to put some distance between them and the rest of a tightly bunched group of Western Conference contenders, when they take on the West’s top dog, the Thunder on Wednesday night.
The Clippers are one of the hottest teams in the league winners of 6 straight, but they still trail the Lakers by 1.5 games for the 3rd spot in the Western Conference.
A week ago Vinny Del Negro was squarely on the hot seat. He isn’t necessarily feeling safe right now, but a three-game winning streak and a vote of confidence from Owner Donald Sterling had to help.
There is maybe nothing more surprising than the play of the surging Phoenix Suns in the second half of the season.
The Clippers are coming off a win, but they are only 4-6 in their last 10 games and are tied with the Mavs for the 4th spot in the Western Conference.
The injury-depleted Denver Nuggets will be aiming to string together back to back wins after three straight losses when they head to Los Angeles to take on a Clippers team that is hit and miss in their seven outings.
The Portland Trail Blazers will be playing their final game of three consecutive games in three nights, aiming to end their three-game home losing streak, returning from Golden State to host the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time this season at the Rose Garden on Thursday night.
Denver is coming off a heartbreaking loss against Memphis on Tuesday night. The Nuggets led all game, only to blow it at the end of regulation and then lose in overtime.
Memphis had a seven-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night in Portland, but this is still a Grizzlies team that is playing with a ton of confidence. The Clippers got Chris Paul back from an injury in their last game against the Lakers, but they fell 96-91 in a hard fought game.
The Clip Joint (7-4) is coming off a blowout loss where they had their worst shooting night of the young season and they will be facing a Mavs (8-6) team that only scored 73 points in their Monday night loss to the Lakers.