We all have those butterfinger moments when trying to cut to the basket. And Chris Paul had a definite butterfinger moment. With less than 2 seconds left. Paul fumbled the basketball leaving Memphis Grizzlies’ Mike Conley to pick him off and lock in the W for the Grizz. Now Chris Paul knows he screwed up. And it’s unfortunate. The Clippers had that game until Memphis came back. Whether you think they stole the game or not is your prerogative but Paul screwed up and that’s that.
He told the LA Times after the game that if he saw that play on TV. He’d be shouting “You Dummy!”.
Paul was stellar with 30 points and 10 assists but would surely trade them in for a do-over in the final seconds. He was dribbling with the Clippers trailing, 88-87, when Conley reached in and knocked the ball away, prompting Barnes to foul Conley with 1.5 seconds left.
“If I was at home watching this game, I would say, ‘This dummy didn’t even get a shot up,‘” Paul said of himself. “You at least have to give yourself a chance.”
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers blamed his team for contributing to the turnover.
“It was a random play because we didn’t have a timeout and it was a fastbreak for the most part,” Rivers said, “but I thought our spacing was horrendous and I told our guys that after the game.“
The Clippers are 5-2 without Blake Griffin. Which is decent. But is it just me that thinks the Clips won’t even get a sniff of the Western Conference Finals? On paper. The Clippers look so good. But they have some games where they play as if they’ve never met each other. I hate their inconsistent play. And this was one of those plays.
