In a must win game, the Los Angeles Clippers overcame adversity to take an enormous Game 4 victory in San Antonio to knot the series at 2 apiece.

The Clippers, after getting blown out by 27 points in Game 3, knew they had to win Game 4 to stay alive in the series. Going down 1-3 against the champs was not in their plans today.

Right from the start, they came out with a better sense of urgency and did not let the Spurs stomp them early in the game.

Tony Parker, who accumulated a total of 17 points through three games in the series, had eight points within a few minutes. He and Kawhi Leonard scored the first 16 points of the game for San Antonio. Though, the Clippers kept battling to finish the quarter tied at 25.

The Clippers bench had been lackadaisical in this series until today. Austin Rivers gave his father quality minutes in this one, scoring 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting in 17 minutes of action.

The game ball goes to Austin Rivers,” Chris Paul said after the win.

On top of Rivers’ 16 points, Jamal Crawford, who scored just five on 1 of 11 shooting on Friday, added 15 points, seven in the fourth, to aid the Clippers to the crucial victory. Crawford made a huge driving layup with under seven minutes to go in the game to stop the Spurs’ 6-0 spurt and regain momentum for his team.

Paul registered a phenomenal performance after a subpar outing in Game 3. He controlled the final six minutes of the game with his excellent play making and incredible mid-range shooting, extending the Clippers lead to 14 with 3:29 left despite playing with five personal fouls throughout the fourth stanza.

Kawhi Leonard hit back-to-back threes to bring the Spurs closer, but his efforts came up short. The Clippers made enough plays and hit free throws down the stretch to close out the Spurs, 114-105, to tie this series heading back to Los Angeles.

Leonard put in another huge game, scoring 26 points, nabbing seven rebounds, and adding five assists, but the duo of Paul and Blake Griffin were too much to handle.

Paul finished with 34 points, seven assists, and three rebounds on 11 of 19 shooting from the field and a perfect 10 for 10 from the charity stripe. Griffin almost had another triple-double, logging 20 points, 19 rebounds, and seven assists. DeAndre Jordan was benched most of the fourth quarter to eliminate Gregg Popovich’s Hack-A-Jordan ploy, but he still made a huge impact defensively, recording 14 rebounds and four blocks.

The Clippers got their redemption and bounced back gracefully in this game. They shot better than 53 percent from the floor and held San Antonio to 44 percent. They matched the physicality of the Spurs and grinded one out.

The Spurs weren’t too bad offensively, though. Tim Duncan put in yet another double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds to go along with two steals and three blocks. Parker had his best game of the series, adding 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting, but he missed four crucial free throws in the fourth. In fact, the Spurs free-throw shooting was once again less than stellar, missing 10 as a team. 

Patty Mills was the usual spark plug off the bench, delivering 14 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes, while Boris Diaw pushed in 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

The downfall was the play of Danny Green. He totaled zero points on 0 for 6 shooting in 28 minutes. He was rushing his shots and was making mistakes on defense. The Spurs desperately need Green to knock down his three-point shots, especially when he is wide open. Tiago Splitter also had zero points and missed all five of his shot attempts.

After demolishing the Clippers by 27 two days ago, it looked like the Spurs had taken full control of this series, but for the Clippers to recover masterfully after that game on the road in a must win, it was simply remarkable.

Game 5 will be played on Tuesday, April 28th, on TNT. 

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.