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Clippers can’t be thinking about the odds of winning

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On one hand, the idea that players are caught up in the odds being stacked against them in a playoff series is a narrative Clippers coach Doc Rivers emphatically dismissed Thursday.

On the other, the notion that players know how high the odds are stacked against them is a storyline Clippers guard J.J. Redick willingly embraced.

The Utah Jazz won Game 5 at Staples Center on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Friday night at Salt Lake City.

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Teams taking a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven NBA series have won the series 84.4% of the time.

Rivers refused to buy any of that with his team staring at elimination.

“I’m gonna say this again: Guys don’t think about that crap, they really don’t,” Rivers said before the Clippers practiced Thursday. “I’m just being honest with you. It sounds great. It’s great to write about.

“I’ve been in this for 30 years. I don’t think I’ve ever walked in a game thinking, ‘Oh my God, if we lose this game… .’ Guys don’t do that, that’s what people write about. It’s great theater. It’s great to write about. I have never walked into a game thinking about that.”

Redick stood with his back against a wall after taking pre-practice shoots and smiled when told about the daunting numbers.

“There’s probability and chance, I get that,” he said. “You still have to go play basketball. Jamal [Crawford] and I were recounting the times in our career where we’ve been down 3-2 and won the series. Not just here, but in Atlanta [Crawford] or Orlando [Redick)]. It’s happened before, so I’ve been a part of that 20%.

“A guy can shoot 40% from three. That means he’s going to miss six out of 10 shots. You’ve still got to take your three. You’ve still got to go play to win. The numbers, they are a part of it. It’s still sports. You’ve still got to go play.”

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The Clippers won Game 3 in Salt Lake City but they won’t have Blake Griffin to help because he’s sidelined for the rest of the playoffs because of a toe injury.

With so much at stake, Rivers found a way to decompress, saying he “walked on the beach” after watching film Wednesday.

He stuck with his mantra that being on the brink of elimination is not a heavy weight for him or his players.

“I’m thinking about we better execute better,” Rivers said. “If I was a player [I’m thinking], ‘Man, I haven’t made a shot. I better make a shot.’ …If you do think about the results or what’s going to happen before and not the process, you lose. That’s sports. That’s probably life in general. But if you’re going into something thinking about what happens if this happens, you’ve lost.”

The Clippers need a victory to force a Game 7 at Staples Center on Sunday.

“You can’t go up to Utah to win two games,” Redick said. “You can’t win two games tomorrow. We only have to win one game tomorrow. That’s all we have to do. So that’s the mentality. …Yeah, we’ve won one game. The task of winning one game is a little less daunting than the task of winning two games at once.

“I don’t know how else to say it. You can’t think about any other option. That’s really the only choice, I guess, is to just put everything into tomorrow and then we’ll worry about preparation on Saturday for Sunday’s game.”

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broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner

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