The Los Angeles Clippers on Monday delivered the biggest comeback in NBA playoff history, rallying from a 31-point deficit for a shocking 135-131 win over two-time defending champions the Golden State Warriors.
Lou Williams scored 36 points and Montrezl Harrell nailed a couple of clutch, late free throws as the Clippers surprised even themselves to square the first-round playoff series at 1-1.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said that he told his players at halftime, when they were down by 23 points, not to give up.
Photo: AFP
“I said: ‘We are going to win this game.’ I was honest with them. I said: ‘I don’t know how. Just hang in there with each other,’” Rivers said. “This is who we are. We hung in there long enough. We found a way to win the game.”
Williams also had 11 assists, going 13-of-22 from the field and eight-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Game 3 is tomorrow in Los Angeles.
The stretch drive featured the Clippers’ consistent mid-range game against the Warriors’ inconsistent three-point shooting, but fouls and injuries also worked against the Warriors in Game 2 of the first-round series.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that it was an epic meltdown.
“Once you lose momentum in a game, it is hard to get it back,” Kerr said. “We lost this game in the middle of the third quarter when we stopped playing. We got up by 31 and we shut down. We got exactly what we deserved.”
“We changed a couple things offensively and defensively on the fly in the third,” Rivers said. “And it worked out for us.”
Williams drained a key jump shot over Klay Thompson with 46 seconds remaining after Curry had put the Warriors ahead 131-128 on a three-pointer 12 seconds earlier.
After Thompson missed a shot from beyond the arc, Clippers Landry Shamet hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left for the game winner.
Harrell sank two free throws with five seconds left to cap the scoring.
Elsewhere on Monday, Ben Simmons heard cheers instead of jeers as the Philadelphia 76ers set a franchise record with 51 points in the third quarter on the way to a 145-123 playoff win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Australia’s Simmons delivered a triple-double of 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
Philadelphia grabbed command of the contest with a 51-point third quarter, a team record for most points in a quarter.
The Sixers also set a club record for most points in a playoff game, squaring their best-of-seven opening round series 1-1.
Game 3 is tomorrow in New York.
Ailing Joel Embiid finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Philadelphia, who shot 56 percent from the field. Embiid was a game-time decision due to a sore left knee.
“Everybody’s got to bring it,” Embiid said. “We need everybody.”
Tobias Harris added 19 points for Philadelphia, while JJ Redick scored 17, reserve center Boban Marjanovic had 16 and Mike Scott scored 15.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 19 for the Nets, as D’Angelo Russell added 16, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson got 15, and Caris LeVert and Shabazz Napier each scored 13.
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