Fantastic Clippers Make the Best Comeback in NBA Playoffs History

Last night, one of a kind shock happened in the NBA. Something which hasn’t been seen, and won’t bee seen in decades. The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the NBA champions, Golden State Warriors, on the road, despite being behind 31 points in the third period. Clippers completed the comeback in the last moments of the match, and took a 135-131 victory.

Just a few expected to see the guests even winning this match. But nobody, for sure, could see them getting on top after trailing 31 points in the third quarter.

Nobody except themselves. Lou Williams tried to explain what was the mindset of him and his players in the moments when Warriors harassed them on the floor.

“At the halftime, we were down big just said, ‘Hey let’s go out there, get lost in the game, and we’ll live with the result’. Confidence and momentum is a real thing, we just started going, and after that, it was just a blur.”

Blur, magic, work of art, call it whatever you want, but those final 17 minutes Clippers’ played were a real thing, which will stay forever remembered as one of their brightest moments.

"This is who we've been all season." 💪@KristenLedlow caught up with @TeamLou23 after the Clippers erased a 31-pt deficit at Oracle Arena. #ClipperNation | #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/6FfVSIl1Sw

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 16, 2019

Williams stated that this win represents the Clippers and what were they all about throughout the entire season.

“This who we’ve been whole season… we go out there, and we fight as hard as we can every night. So its good to showcase that.”

In the first two quarters, the Warriors scored 73 points, and were up 23 at the halftime. So, everything was according to the plan for them.

They came out on the court even stronger in the second half and kept pounding hard. With 7:31 until the end of the third, Kevin Durant dunked, stayed hanging on the rim, and afterward demonstrated power by staring at the Clippers’ players. After his and-one free throw, the home team had a 94-63 lead, the highest of the game.

Now, there is a lot of beef between Durant and the Clippers. Maybe, just maybe, this provoked the reaction of the guests.

Since that moment, Doc Rivers’ boys outscored the champs 72-37, making one of the best ever comebacks in the history of the league. They dropped 44 points in the third and 41 in the final period of the match, making this second half the second-most efficient in the history of the postseason.

But neither that, or the fact that they created the biggest comeback in the history of the playoff amazes Clippers’ players, as they cared only about the win.

“That’s a record we didn’t necessarily want to have. We’ll take it,” said Williams who ended the game with 36 points and 11 assists.

Danilo Gallinari had a couple of threes and delivered several points which moved the Clippers, Patrick Beverly did his part of the job excellently, and in the moments when the game was tight, Williams and Montrezl Harrell took the responsibility and solved all the offensive possessions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9kyGJMwOmM

However, the game-winner was, without a doubt, Landy Shamet’s three with 16.5 seconds until the end. The Clippers’ took the lead then 133-131, and it was the first time they were ahead since 12-11 in the first quarter.

So, their miracle wasn’t a product of just one or two guys, but the whole team in general.

In the end, besides Sweet Lou, Montrezl Harrell had a huge role with 25 points and 10 boards, Gallinari added 24, Shamet 12, JaMychal Green 13.

Game 3 is in two days, and the Clippers are already thinking about that. They aren’t going to stop here and celebrate this epic triumph. They want more. Their ambitions are now higher, because if you can beat the champ at his own court, after being down 30, you can do pretty much everything.

And that is what Doc Rivers said at the press conference following the match.

“That’s not enough for us,” Rivers told the journalists. “You could hear them in the locker room. They’re not talking about that. They’re talking about coming back and winning. They have expectations. This team does.”

We too have high expectations from this series.