PHOENIX - With their rotation options already limited because of injuries and facing elimination Monday, the Clippers will be without center Ivica Zubac for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals at Phoenix Suns Arena. The numbers tell the story of how teams leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven series in the conference finals boast a 52-4 record and how teams are 251-13 in any best-of-seven series. The Clippers know the odds are stacked against their resilient group. Just got to try and go get Game 5 and be ready to try to force a Game 7.” Just got to take it a game at a time now. “Definitely a different feeling,” a disappointed Terance Mann said after scoring 12 points. One more shove, one more push, and the season is over for a Clippers team that has withstood more than its share of pushes and shoves this postseason.Įven the Clippers had to admit that being down 3-1 to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference finals felt different than their other 2-0 deficits this postseason.Īn 84-80 loss to the Suns at Staples Center on Saturday night put the Clippers in this unpleasant place. This time, the hole the Clippers are seeking to climb out of is deeper than any they have pulled themselves out of during their Western Conference playoff run that has now reached the edge of elimination. “We are a totally different team when we attack the paint and get to the rim. “In that second half, we made a little adjustment with Zu and having him slip out a little early to get those guys downhill because then Ayton has to back up,” Lue said. George then flipped passes to Zubac, who finished with dunks, the last cutting the Clippers’ 15-point halftime deficit to eight. Twice he slid into empty space created when his defender, Suns center Deandre Ayton, was forced to move away to stop drives by Paul George as he drove into the lane. A fifth came when Terance Mann sprinted from beyond the key under the rim, caught a pass heading out of bounds and finished a layup.Īll that downhill movement suddenly had the Clippers’ comeback chances looking up, with much of it involving center Ivica Zubac. Of their first six baskets during the third quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Phoenix Suns, four were started by the Clippers’ drives into the paint from their half-court offense. Things were going downhill fast Saturday for the Clippers - and just as they had hoped.
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