LA Clippers stare their shortcomings in the mirror and respond against San Antonio Spurs

LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers 'went at all of us' after a miserable Game 3, said Chris Paul, 'he told us about ourselves and he told us what we didn't do'. On Sunday, LA responded with a crucial Game 4 win.

Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers celebrates after scoring a basket in his team's NBA play-offs win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 on Sunday night. Darren Abate / AP / April 26, 2015

The Los Angeles Clippers answered their worst loss in NBA play-offs history with one of their most uplifting victories.

Chris Paul had 34 points and seven assists, Blake Griffin added 20 points and 19 rebounds, and the Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-105 on Sunday to even their first-round series at two games apiece.

The Clippers, who bounced back from a 100-73 loss in Game 3, host Game 5 on Tuesday. This is the only series that is tied after four games.

Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said the team’s “spirit” was broken during that lopsided loss, but he didn’t coddle his players during a two-hour film session Saturday.

“Doc pretty much went at all of us,” Paul said. “He told us about ourselves and he told us what we didn’t do. He told us that when it comes to the play-offs, it is the players’ time.”

The Clippers responded by shooting 54 per cent from the field after being held to 34 per cent Friday.

JJ Redick scored 17 points for Los Angeles and Austin Rivers provided an unexpected boost off the bench with a post-season career-high 16 points.

“It’s more than just shooting the ball,” Paul said. “Our defence was better and our offensive execution. I think I got more shots because of the tempo of the game that we played at. We played downhill, we set screens; we’re tough when we play like that.”

San Antonio were 6-for-25 on three-pointers and 25-for-35 on free throws.

“We lacked a lot of discipline,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We didn’t execute sharply enough in what we wanted to strategy-wise or just in general basketball play.”

Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points, Tim Duncan had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Tony Parker added 18 points for San Antonio, but Paul proved too much.

The point guard was 11-for-19 from the field and 10-for-10 on free throws while committing just two turnovers in 38 minutes.

Paul hit jumpers over Parker and Duncan in scoring six straight points for the Clippers beginning midway through the fourth quarter. He then drove the lane and kicked out to Redick, who drained a three-pointer for a 106-92 lead.

Leonard followed with consecutive threes to pull within 106-98, but Paul settled the Clippers with a pair of free throws.

Paul also made six straight free throws to close the third quarter and give the Clippers an 81-76 lead after the Spurs’ attempts to send DeAndre Jordan to the foul line backfired. San Antonio fouled to put Los Angeles in the bonus, but Rivers subbed Glen Davis for Jordan before the Spurs could employ their “hack-a-Jordan” strategy.

Tony Parker said San Antonio lost their focus “a little bit at the end of the third quarter”.

“We made a lot of fouls that we could have prevented.”

Austin Rivers allowed Los Angeles to keep their momentum when Paul sat, opening the second quarter with seven straight points by backing down 6ft 0in Patty Mills. Rivers, who is 6ft 4in, was 7-for-8 from the field in 17 minutes.

“We did game plan for him, but not for him to make the shots that he did,” Duncan said. “Those are shots that we are kind of willing to give up at that point contested and he knocked them out.”

The Spurs never trailed in Game 3, but Jordan helped stake the Clippers to a 6-0 lead Sunday. He finished with six points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.

In Dallas, Monta Ellis scored 31 points, JJ Barea had 17 points and 13 assists in his first play-off start since boosting Dallas’ run to the 2011 championship and the Mavericks avoided elimination with a 121-109 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Dallas cut Houston’s lead to 3-1 in the first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Houston.

The Rockets, trying to wrap up their first post-season series victory since 2009, missed 17 consecutive shots covering the second and third quarters. The most-prolific three-point shooting team in NBA history in the regular season were 7-of-31 from long range.

James Harden scored 24 points, and Dwight Howard had 13. But the big man was kept under control after scoring 10 points with two more alley-oop dunks in the first quarter.

*Associated Press

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