Preview: Game 7 Clippers vs. Spurs

The Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs will play a winner-takes-all Game 7 at Staples Center on Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT.

Nearly 80% of home teams win Game 7 in NBA playoff series, but Clippers Coach Doc Rivers knows that statistic doesn’t mean too much for the Clippers, considering the Spurs have won two of three games at Staples Center in the teams’ first-round playoff series. Oh, and the Spurs have won five NBA championships, including one last season, while the Clippers have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.

“Obviously, we’ll be at home, but you just can’t lean on being at home,” Rivers said. “That obviously hasn’t worked well in this series. So it’s going to be the team that plays the best. I’ve said for years it’s a make-miss league and Game 7’s are the ultimate make-miss games.”

Clippers reserve forward Glen Davis is listed as questionable for the game after spraining his left ankle in the first minute of the fourth quarter in Game 6 on Thursday. On Friday afternoon, Rivers said he wasn’t sure what Davis’ status will be for Saturday.

It’s been an incredible series so far, with two of the games coming down to the final seconds, and all but one of the games being decided in the fourth quarter.

The winner of Game 7 will go on to play the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs.

Here is a short recap of all of the games up until this point:

Game 1 -- Clippers win, 107-92

The Spurs cut the Clippers’ 18-point lead to nine after Marco Belinelli made a three-pointer with 7 minutes 36 seconds left.

But the Clippers responded with a 7-0 run to retake a comfortable double-digit lead, eventually taking their biggest lead of the game at 20 points.

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul combined for 58 points, more than half of the Clippers’ total. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined for only 21 points for the Spurs.

Game 2 -- Spurs win in overtime, 111-107

The game came down to the final seconds in both regulation and overtime. With the score tied at 94-94 and only 1.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Chris Paul missed a potential game-winner, sending the game to overtime. With 5.2 seconds left in overtime and the Clippers down by five points, J.J. Redick made a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two, 109-107. Patty Mills then made two free throws with four seconds remaining to seal the win for the Spurs.

Game 3 -- Spurs win, 100-73

The Spurs never trailed and led by as many as 37 at point while Chris Paul had more turnovers (six) than assists (four) and made only three of 11 field goal attempts for the Clippers.

Game 4 -- Clippers win, 114-105

There were 18 lead changes and nine ties.

After playing terribly in Game 3, Paul led all scorers with 34 points on 11-for-19 shooting and had seven assists and only two turnovers.

The Clippers led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before Kawhi Leonard made back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Clippers’ lead to eight, 106-98, with 2 minutes, 29 seconds left. The Clippers then went back up by 12 points with under a minute left.

Game 5 -- Spurs win, 111-107

With just over five seconds left, and the Spurs up, 108-107, Blake Griffin’s contested floater in the lane rolled off the rim. DeAndre Jordan tipped it in with 4.9 seconds left, but the bucket was waved off for offensive goaltending.

The Spurs got possession and the Clippers immediately fouled Danny Green with 4.1 seconds left. Green made his first free throw and missed the second. But Kawhi Leonard grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two more free throws to give the Spurs the three-point win.

Game 6 -- Clippers win, 102-96

With the Spurs down by five points and 14.9 seconds left, Marco Belinelli made a three-pointer to cut the Clippers’ lead to two, 98-96. The Spurs then fouled Jamal Crawford, who made both of his free throws to give the Clippers a four-point lead with 10.1 seconds left. Blake Griffin went on to make a pair of free throws to close the game out.