May 03--Matt Barnes made two consecutive layups to bring the Clippers within one-point of the Spurs, 19-18, with four minutes left in the first quarter. Barnes leads all scorers with 10 points on four-for-six shooting, including making two of his four three-point attempts.
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The Spurs have taken a 13-6 lead over the Clippers with 8 minutes and 30 seconds left in the first quarter, prompting Clippers Coach Doc Rivers to call a timeout. The Spurs are outshooting the Clippers from the field, 75% to 40%.
Pregame
The Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs will play a winner-takes-all Game 7 at Staples Center at 5 p.m. PDT. The winner will play the Houston Rockets in the second round of the playoffs. Before the game, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich offered a bit of perspective.
"In this situation, one of us goes to Houston and one of us goes on vacation," he said. "We'd each rather go to Houston, but vacation is not terrible. A lot of people have it a lot tougher than us. If those are your two choices in life, you should shut up and just live."
The Clippers forced a Game 7 by avoiding elimination in Game 6 with a 102-96 win in San Antonio on Thursday. Historically, the home team wins Game 7 nearly 80% of the time.
That stat can only be somewhat applied to this game, though, considering the Spurs have won twice at Staples Center in this series. And the Spurs have won five NBA championships, while the Clippers have never made it past the second round.
"They've been together," Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said of the Spurs. "They trust everybody, and everybody trusts each other."
Popovich said it's a shame that two teams of this caliber are meeting in the first round.
"It just seems odd that a team that wins 55 and a team that wins 56 plays in the first round," he said. "That's a tough, tough West."
Rivers said Glen Davis will play in Game 7 despite sustaining a sprained left ankle in Game 6.
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