Rowan Kavner
INDIANAPOLIS – Head coach Doc Rivers knew the challenge.
Somehow, with distractions surrounding the Clippers and Rivers, who wasn’t presented a single question about the actual basketball game happening that night, he had to find a way to keep his players focused solely on what was going on at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the Pacers.
Escaping with a 91-89 victory, he found a way to accomplish that mission.
To do that, it had to happen the same way the 11 prior victories occurred without Blake Griffin.
They hit from deep, knocking down 15 3-pointers.
They watched Chris Paul take over for stretches, finishing with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
And they played stout defense, holding the Pacers scoreless for eight and a half minutes from the three-minute mark in the third quarter until halfway through the fourth, outscoring the Pacers by double digits during that stretch to take a nine-point lead.
The Pacers made a late run to cut the Clippers’ lead to two points with the ball and two seconds left, when Luc Mbah a Moute tipped Indiana’s inbounds pass. That left less than a second on the clock for another inbounds pass, which didn’t find its target, as the Clippers left with the victory.
Paul, who was injured the last time the Clippers played the Pacers, and J.J. Redick, who was injured not even a minute into the Clippers’ last game against the Pacers, combined to score 45 of the Clippers’ 91 points.
The game started out a complete reversal from Toronto game, with the reserves leading the way for the Clippers, who trailed by as many as eight in the third quarter before picking up steam and defending their way to a late lead.
That set the scene for Pablo Prigioni to do what he does best, coming up with a steal, a layup, and drawing an offensive foul to put the Clippers in control in the fourth.
