Clippers upset the Grizzlies, 82-72, in Game 7

The Clippers, led by their bench players throughout the fourth quarter, beat the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series at the FedEx Forum on Sunday to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2006 and only the third time in franchise history.

They will open the second round in San Antonio against the Spurs on Tuesday.

The Clippers’ support players were the story of the game. They outscored the Memphis bench, 41-11. Kenyon Martin had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Nick Young scored 13, Mo Williams nine and Eric Bledsoe eight. All figured prominently in the fourth quarter.

Chris Paul was the only Clippers starter in the game during crunch time. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

“That’s why it’s seven games,” Martin said. “If you don’t do it before, you get another chance. So they did what they had to do, they came and stole home court back on our floor. … We had a chance to close it out. We knew we let it go, an opportunity get away.”

PHOTOS: Clippers vs. Grizzlies, Game 7

Randy Foye, a reserve until Chauncey Billups was lost for the season with an injury, had high praise for the bench.

“Our bench was our MVP,” Foye said. “They realized what they had to do. We had a lot of guys hurt, so we just continued to grind.”

The Clippers came out firing in the fourth with the second unit. Martin, who scored seven of his points in the quarter, made an 18-footer and Young had a transition three-pointer from the corner to put L.A. on top, 60-56, and force a hasty Memphis timeout less than a minute into the quarter.

After the timeout, the Clippers outscored Memphis, 6-2; when Martin’s put-back put L.A. on top by eight, 66-58, Memphis called another timeout with 8:41 to play. That’s the same advantage the Clippers had in Game 6 with eight minutes to play before losing. They would hold it this time in one of the biggest games in franchise history.

Williams’ three-pointer with seven minutes to go pushed the Clippers’ lead to 71-61. Paul, playing aggressively despite the injured hip he sustained in Game 5, re-entered the game for Bledsoe with 6:16 to go.

Blake Griffin, clearly hampered by his injured left knee, remained on the bench and played only briefly in the final quarter. He finished with eight points and four rebounds.

When Marc Gasol, who along with Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies in scoring with 19 points, tossed in a one-footer over DeAndre Jordan with 4:05 to play, cutting the Clippers’ lead to 71-65, L.A. called a timeout.

The Clippers pushed the lead to eight again on a drive by Bledsoe with 2:35 to play. With 1:01 left and the Clippers leading by six, 75-69, Martin went to the line for the first time in the series. He made one of two.

The final two minutes of the game was contested at the free-throw line, with the Clippers making seven of eight down the stretch.

“I felt like we should have won earlier,” Paul said. “But it doesn’t matter. As long as you win, I think it is a step in the right direction for our franchise.”

The series started promisingly for the Clippers in Game 1 when they put together one of the biggest comebacks in NBA playoff history, overcoming a 27-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Grizzlies, 99-98, in Memphis and steal home-court advantage. The Grizzlies bounced back in Game 2 to even things up before the series moved to Staples Center for Game 3.

The question at the time for the Clippers, who were tagged as underdogs by most experts and those who consider themselves experts, was whether they could hold on to the home-court edge in their two games at home. They did, but it wasn’t easy.

They won Game 3, 87-86, after nearly blowing a six-point lead with 23 seconds to play, managing to eke out the victory despite missing 17 of their 30 free throws.

Game 4 was no easier, but as has been the case all season, Paul and Griffin powered the team to an overtime victory. Paul had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists; Griffin had 30 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Still, it took two free throws by Williams to ice it.

Things turned sour in the return to Memphis for Game 5. Griffin and Paul were injured and Memphis got back into the series with a 92-80 win. And with Paul and Griffin operating at well below full strength in Game 6 back in L.A., the Clippers had no answers for Gasol and Randolph, who powered Memphis to a 90-88 victory to set up Game 7.

“I want the guys to enjoy this, and then we’ll regroup tomorrow and focus in on that,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said before turning his attention to the Spurs. “But obviously another big challenge for us.”

Memphis 56, Clippers 55 (end of third quarter)

The Clippers needed to figure out a way to get more offense as the second half began. Defensively, they had effectively shut down the Grizzlies for much of two quarters, but Memphis’ 15-6 run to close out the first half was problematic for L.A.

Blake Griffin was only two for 10 from the field in the first half; that probably wouldn’t be adequate to enable the Clippers to move on to the second round for only the third time in franchise history.

As Griffin and Zach Randolph continued their version of Greco-Roman wrestling underneath the basket, the Clippers held their one-point lead 4 1/2 minutes into the third quarter, with Randy Foye and Caron Butler hitting mid-range shots to offset the inside offense of Mike Conley and Rudy Gay.

The Clippers’ inside defense began breaking down with Conley, Gay and Tony Allen all scoring on drives to put Memphis ahead, 50-49. Paul was trying to take over offensively for the Clippers but turned the ball over twice.

Griffin picked up his third foul on a charge with two minutes to play and sat down. He was three for 11 from the field at that point.

Paul’s 19-footer cut Memphis’ lead to 54-53, then he missed from three-point range and drained a pull-up jumper from 15 feet to put the Clippers ahead, 55-54, with half a minute to play.

Paul, who had 17 points, led the Clippers with eight rebounds and he had four assists

But Gay scored his game-high 19th point on a bank with two seconds to play to put Memphis back up entering the fourth quarter.

Clippers 39, Memphis 38 (halftime)

There was good news for the Clippers at halftime: they held a one-point lead in a very physical game. There was also bad news: The Grizzlies were right in the game despite shooting only 33%. The Clippers’ 37% shooting had something to do with that.

Blake Griffin was the only starter on the court for the Clippers as the second quarter began, and Zach Randolph went to work inside, with a basket and two quick free throws to give Memphis a 17-16 lead.

The Clippers’ offense struggled, with an offensive foul by Eric Bledsoe, a turnover by Nick Young and an offensive foul by Kenyon Martin. But Bledsoe spotted Young for a three-pointer to put the Clippers back on top, then made a steal, and Young ended up on the line at the end of that possession, making one of two.

It’s the standard Bledsoe package, which is always spectacular but runs at each extreme of the spectrum.

Chris Paul re-entered the game midway through the quarter, promptly dropped a three-pointer from the corner and a transition jumper to give the Clippers a 27-20 lead. Memphis was down to 26% shooting at that point.

The Clippers built the lead to 10 before Memphis scored six in a row to cut the lead to 33-29.

Griffin went to the line with 2:32 to play in the first half to stall the Memphis run. He made two free throws, an accomplishment for a team that missed 17 of 30 in Game 3.

Memphis came back with two free throws by Gasol and a bank shot by Rudy Gay with 1:30 left after the Grizzlies had gotten two offensive rebounds, and Mike Conley’s free throw cut the lead to one before Paul’s jumper extended the Clippers’ lead to three. Gay’s too-easy drive made it a one-point game, which was the difference at the half.

Paul is leading the Clippers with 11 points. Griffin has only six points with four rebounds. The Clippers, who have had trouble rebounding the entire series, held a 23-22 edge in that department.

Memphis’ scoring is evenly distributed with Marc Gasol and Randolph combining for 16 points.

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan continues to be outmatched inside, with no points and only two rebounds.

Clippers 16, Memphis 13 (end of first quarter)

The Clippers were underdogs before the beginning of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, and they became longshots with injuries to All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in Game 5, the loss in Game 6 at Staples Center and the return to Memphis for today’s Game 7.

Considering that 80% of the home teams have won Game 7s in NBA playoff history and that Memphis had the third-best home winning percentage in the NBA this season, this was going to be an extremely difficult game for L.A.

Turned out the start of the game was difficult for both teams. Neither got anything going early, combining to go four for 21 from the field after the opening tip. Memphis called a timeout with 6:25 to play in the quarter and the Clippers leading, 6-5. Tony Allen, known for his defense, had all five of Memphis’ points.

Griffin and Paul both looked better physically, Paul making the Clippers’ first basket three minutes into the game.

Paul added a 19-footer and 20 seconds later fed Griffin on a frantic breakaway for a 12-7 lead. Griffin’s 15-foot jumper with 3:37 left in the quarter put the Clippers on top, 14-7.

The Clippers are playing with much more intensity than in Game 6. Paul is showing some of the explosiveness that was missing in Game 6, and Griffin is more aggressive inside. The start is a significant improvement for the Clippers, who trailed Memphis by nine after one in Game 6 and by 14 at the start of Game 5.

Still, it has not been an artistic start. The Clippers are shooting only 28%, Memphis 27%. Paul has four points, three rebounds and two assists. Griffin has four points and three rebounds.

Allen’s five points leads Memphis; no other Grizzlies player has more than two. Center Marc Gasol sat out the final minute of the quarter with two fouls.

Pregame: Clippers need to be more “aggressive”

The stakes are higher, but the circumstances are similar to Friday.

An hour before Game 7 between the Clippers and Grizzlies in Memphis, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro was unsure about the health of his two star players, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Again he said his team must rebound better. Again he’s looking for a more “aggressive,” faster start.

He said many of the same things Friday evening before the Clippers lost Game 6. If nothing changes this time around, his Clippers will likely be headed home.

“I think we have to get a lot of things at a high level,” Del Negro said. “With Chris’ injury, other people are going to have to make shots.”

As injuries go, Del Negro said he will wait to see how Paul and Griffin look when they hit the floor before evaluating how many minutes he will play them.

Griffin sprained his left knee during the third quarter of Game 5 on Wednesday night in Memphis. Paul strained his right hip during the fourth quarter of Game 5. Both played Friday, but were limited by their injuries.

“I think they feel a little bit better maybe more mentally than anything about how they’re going to feel when they play,” Del Negro said of Griffin and Paul.

Playing less than 48 hours after the Clippers’ two-point loss in Los Angeles, the coach admitted that emotional exhaustion was “a concern” but added that “I think everyone knows what’s at stake.”

Simply put, it’s the Clippers’ season.

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