Clippers let game against Grizzlies slip away along with seven-game winning streak
They began to push, shove and glare at each other, a show of force from both the Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies taking shape in the third quarter Wednesday night.
Bodies were flying all over the Staples Center court and a lot of energy was being exerted by both teams.
The Clippers dug out of 16-point hole in the third quarter, but the Grizzlies wound up with the 111-107 victory, ending the Clippers’ seven-game winning streak.
The Clippers have lost only two games this season, but both have been at home, to Oklahoma City and now Memphis.
“The two losses that we have, you feel like that wasn’t our best games,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “And give them credit. They played hard. I thought they hung there throughout the game.”
The crowd stirred to life when the intensity of the game began to rise in the third quarter.
The Clippers lamented the way their streak was snapped.
They had two turnovers in the final 24 seconds of the game.
Jamal Crawford was called for a technical foul with three minutes, 40 seconds left and the Clippers holding possession of the basketball.
“The tech, I didn’t like,” Rivers said. “You should never get a tech in a fourth quarter.”
This sizzling game between two teams with a playoff history wasn’t determined until the final seconds.
Chris Paul, who tried to overcome a poor shooting night, had given the Clippers a 107-105 lead with 1:03 left on a 13-foot jumper. Paul finished with nine points on three-for-11 shooting.
When James Ennis made just one of two free throws with 26.3 seconds left, the Clippers still had a 107-106 lead and a chance to close out the game.
But Crawford got trapped and turned the ball over. Marc Gasol got the steal, giving Memphis the ball with 23.1 seconds left.
Mike Conley, who had been a problem for the Clippers all game, found Gasol in the corner for a three-pointer that gave the Grizzlies a 109-107 lead with 14.4 seconds left.
The Clippers still had an opportunity after calling a timeout.
But J.J. Redick, who scored 29 points and made seven three-pointers in the second half, had the ball slip out of his hands as he went up to take a three-pointer that would have given the Clippers the lead.
“Obviously, the turnover is a tough one,” Rivers said. “It happens. It’s a game of mistakes and you have to play through those.”
Conley was fouled and finished off the game by making two free throws for the final score.
The Memphis trio of Conley (30 points), Gasol (26) and Zach Randolph (18), familiar foes to the Clippers, gave L.A. all it could handle.
The Grizzlies, who had been averaging only 97.5 points a game, took a 61-46 lead at the half. The Clippers still found themselves in a 79-63 hole in the third quarter, but they crawled back to within 83-76 entering the fourth because of a better defensive effort.
“I thought we played with a different spirit in the second half,” DeAndre Jordan said. “We kind of were letting the game come to us instead of going and taking it like we have been playing the past few games. And it came back to bite us.”
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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