Column: Opportunity to win Game 4 might be one the Clippers regret not taking
If this season ends at the same stage as the last, the Clippers will look back on Sunday night and ask themselves, “What if …?”
What if they had closed out Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz?
What if they had made a basket or two over a crucial three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter?
What if they had prevented 35-year-old Joe Johnson from scoring 11 consecutive points on them?
The game was there for the Clippers to take. The series was there for them to win.
The Clippers should be returning to Staples Center with a three-games-to-one advantage over the Jazz. Instead, an injury- and illness-marred series that looks like a seven-episode series of “Survivor” is now tied 2-2, with an inexplicable late-game implosion resulting in a 105-98 defeat at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
“We let that one get away,” Chris Paul said.
In other words, more of the same from the Clippers.
The irony was that the most un-Clippers-like thing happened to them Sunday.
They caught a break.
Shortly before the start of the second half, Gordon Hayward emerged from the Jazz locker room in sandals. Instead of returning to the court, the All-Star received treatment for food poisoning.
Hayward didn’t play another minute.
He was limited in the first half to 9 minutes 12 seconds. He scored three points.
“He was basically on his back up until game time,” coach Quin Snyder said. “He wanted to play and got out there and just didn’t have anything.”
Hayward, who scored a career-high 40 points in Game 3, was the latest casualty in a series that previously claimed Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Rudy Gobert of the Jazz.
Hayward’s absence helped the Clippers withstand the return of Gobert, who injured his knee in the opening minute of the series.
Gobert’s impact was magnified by the season-ending injury to Griffin.
In the previous two games, the Clippers outscored the Jazz by a combined 42 points in the paint. Sunday night, they were outscored there 58-36.
Gobert registered 15 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Derrick Favors also exploited the freedom afforded to him by Griffin’s unavailability, scoring 17 points and taking down six rebounds.
Still, the Clippers were down by only three points at halftime, as Jamal Crawford scored 15 of his 25 points in the first half.
The stage was set for another second-half surge by Paul.
And it came, with Paul driving for a basket that moved the Clippers in front 86-80 with a little under eight minutes to play.
Wesley Johnson converted one of two free throws soon after to extend the lead to seven.
“We had a great opportunity tonight, obviously, with the seven-point lead,” coach Doc Rivers said.
That’s when the Clippers fell apart.
“It felt like it happened fast,” Paul said.
Johnson, who sank the Clippers with a buzzer-beater in Game 1, scored 11 consecutive points. Luc Mbah a Moute couldn’t stop him.
“We should have given him more help,” Rivers said. “I thought we allowed Joe to have too many dribbles without bringing help.”
As Johnson delivered basket after basket, the Clippers offense suddenly stalled.
“That’s on me, being the point guard,” Paul said.
Marreese Speights misfired on a three-point shot. Paul was called for traveling. J.J. Redick missed a three-point attempt.
“We felt like had opportunities to kind of close out that game,” Crawford said.
Johnson’s outburst was interrupted only by three Clippers points — all on free throws by Paul.
Johnson sank a floater with 3:55 remaining to move the Jazz in front 91-90. The Clippers never regained the lead.
“I think we missed back-to-back wide open shots where we could have stretched it to 10 or 13,” Rivers said.
And now the series is tied.
“It is what it is now,” Paul said.
The Clippers have a home-court advantage, but they should be concerned.
Gobert is back. Hayward will return.
Griffin won’t.
The Clippers had an opportunity to bury the Jazz and didn’t — and it could be to their everlasting regret.
