Game 5 of the most competitive series in the 2015 NBA Playoffs did not disappoint. Similar to game 4, in a back and forth affair that could have easily went the other way, the Spurs prevail 111-107. Duncan led the way for the Clippers with 21 points and 11 boards Patty Mills led the bench shooting 4-4 from three helping the Spurs bench outscore the Clippers 17-48. Griffin had 30 points 14 rebounds and seven assists and Chris Paul had a double-double 19 points, 10 assists.
The first half consisted of a game of runs where the Clippers at one point in the first led 27-13 behind six first quarter assists from Paul, one of them worthy to go into the Lob City hall of fame.
San Antonio’s bench ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to get the game back within a couple of possessions as the Clippers led 27-22 going into the second period. The Clippers and Spurs slugged it out through the second period with the lead changing numerous times during the period. Clippers once again won the quarter winning 54-53 at the end of the period thanks to Blake Griffin and his 21 points and eight rebounds. More of the same occurred in the third, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich started to commit Hack-A-DJ halfway through the third completely throwing off any kind of rhythm the Clippers were trying to develop. After substituting Glenn Davis into the game for DeAndre Jordan the Clippers got it going. They ended the quarter on a 12-6 run and a Austin Rivers buzzer beater.
Chris Paul got the fourth started by hitting Danny Green with a crispy hesitation move putting Green on skates. He’s one of the best transition defenders in the league if you weren’t aware.
Diaw looked like he hit the dagger and sucked the life out of the Staples Center with about 3 minutes left in the fourth. Chris Paul willed his team back to get the deficit to two. Then with 4.3 remaining, the game within one, Griffin shoots a runner that looked like it was falling but Jordan touched it over the cylinder waving it off.
Clippers shot 1-14 from three while Spurs got 11-23, its surprising the score was this close considering the boxscore.
Game Six is Thursday 9:30 pm ET on TNT.
