Clippers Defeat Spurs 111 to 109, Advance to Round 2

The LA Clippers and San Antonio Spurs went down to the wire of Game Seven to decide their first round NBA Playoffs series

In a down-to-the-wire Game Seven, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 111 to 109 Saturday night to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

In the first quarter, the visiting Spurs got off to a quick start and jumped out to an eight-point lead within the first six minutes of the winner-take-all finale to an incredibly entertaining series. However, the Clippers fought back with Matt Barnes and Chris Paul leading the way.

Barnes would hit four of his first six shots to finish with 10 points in the opening quarter. However, Paul's five points and three assists, which helped the Clippers regain the lead just shy of nine minutes into the game, were immediately overshadowed by the point guard grabbing his left hamstring and looking distraught on the bench.

Paul would spend the final couple minutes off the court, and the Spurs would again take hold of the lead with San Antonio's bench starting to find a rhythm. When the first 12 minutes expired, the Clippers trailed by two points with their star point guard in the locker room.

However, LA managed to stay in the game with Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford stepping up to fill the void. Griffin and Crawford contributed 13 points and 12 points, respectively, in the first half to lead the home team to a two-point advantage at the intermission.

With regards to Paul, the point guard managed to return to the contest about halfway into the second quarter. He was diagnosed with a strained left hamstring, and the 29-year-old managed to add another four points and two assists at the end of the first half. At least in the first half, Paul and the Clippers appeared to avoid disaster.

For San Antonio, Tim Duncan scored 13 points to lead a balanced attack that featured five Spurs tabbing at least eight points in the first half.

In the third quarter, Paul continued to find his range and quickly hit a couple three-pointers to give the Clippers a six-point lead. Almost immediately, the Spurs responded with a couple shots from distance. The seesaw act on the scoreboard that had occurred all series long appeared would continue into the second half of the deciding Game Seven.

With about four minutes to play in the third quarter, Paul would again grab his hamstring. Clearly, the star point guard was playing through the injury, but a buzzer beating three-pointer to end the third quarter proved the point guard could still shine.

With the shot at the buzzer, the Clippers would lead by one point entering the final quarter. The back-and-forth would continue in the final chapter to a memorable series. With 10 minutes to play, the Clippers and Spurs were again level on the scoreboard. Spurs guard Danny Green, who had struggled for most of the series, finally found his shot in the deciding game. His 16th point on the day put the visitors up by four. After 26 lead changes on the day, the Spurs would take a four-point lead into the final six minutes of Game Seven.

Just about a minute later, J.J. Redick would hit a three-pointer and the Clippers and Spurs would enter the final straightaway tied at 97-97. With the game nearing its conclusion, a couple of suspect foul calls set the stage for the Clippers to get a final shot. Paul hit an incredible banking floater that would account for the 31st lead change of the game. The Clippers took a 111-109 lead with 1.0 seconds to play.

The Spurs would get a shot up, but that shot would not fall, and both coaches spoke graciously of their opponents following the game. 

"It was a great stuff, a great series," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said following the game. "So, congratulations to them. I'm really happy for them."

Notes: Griffin finished with a triple-double: 24 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he would guess Paul would not be ready to play for Game One of their second round series. Next, the Clippers face the Houston Rockets.

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