Los Angeles Clippers News

The Philadelphia 76ers are just one of the teams helping to turn the NBA playoffs upside down. Sixers fans like myself had no expectations when the team slipped to the eighth seed in the East, but now this eighth seed is two wins away from the conference finals. This is the kind of run that no eighth seed has been on since 1999 - which makes total sense, considering the kind of years that 1999 and 2012 have been.

The Lakers left their latest meltdown against the Thunder bickering and on the brink of elimination.

Staples Center has been busy with five playoff games in three days with all three tenants still alive in their playoffs: the Lakers, Clippers and Los Angeles Kings hockey team.

Father Time catches up with everyone in professional sports. There's no stopping the aging process and the inevitable diminishing of skills.

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Durant closed, and Kobe Bryant didn't.

The 2012 NBA Playoffs schedule for Sunday, May 20 will feature two games. On May 19, the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder each moved one step towards the next round with wins over their respective opponents. Which of these four teams playing on Sunday will win the next game of their respective series?

LOS ANGELES (AP) Kevin Durant stood above the 3-point line and watched the shot clock dwindle in the final seconds of Game 4. When Metta World Peace backed up slightly on defense, Durant hesitated only an instant before launching a 26-footer.

Oklahoma City Thunder 103, Los Angeles Lakers 100 (Thunder lead series, 3-1) You get the feeling that every quarter the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder play is worth a column of its own. Our wrists can't handle such an exercise, though, and in a series like this, I'm not sure I can handle another exhausting three games. Though I'd like to see the Lakers and Thunder try. Where to start? Well, it's almost as if Kobe Bryant realized his own line of [nonsense] emanating from his high free throw total in Game 3. Yes, he got to the line 18 times and secured the Lakers' win, but it wasn't as if he was driving and getting hit to get to the stripe. Most of his looks came on fouls on the perimeter, with Oklahoma City in the penalty, and not some head-down brand of dashing to the goal. Come on, Kobe. So what did he do in Game 4? Come on, Kobe. Come on so damn good. He was brilliant, to start. Absolutely fantastic in dominating in the post against both Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden, and outpacing even his Game 3 rate (10 free throw attempts at the end of the third quarter in Game 3, 14 of those bad boys at the same time in Game 4) at the free throw line by, you guessed it, putting his head down and driving to the rim. Smart, tough, and cerebral play from a man playing nearly his 51,000 combined regular season and postseason minute, on the second night of a back to back.

Staples Center was rocking and the Clippers were rolling. The San Antonio Spurs just yawned and said, `Whatever.

LOS ANGELES -- Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook signaled to the NBA that their time might have already come.

Blake Griffin took one painstaking step up after another to get to Saturday's postgame interview podium, then gingerly sat down.

The Spurs' 24-point comeback against the Clippers gives Blake Griffin another much-needed lesson.

The young center often disappears on the court, which isn't why the Clippers gave him the big bucks.

Here's one for you: What would you do?

The Los Angeles Clippers were two completely different teams in Game 3 on May 19. One club raced to an early 33-11 lead after one quarter. The other club scored only eight points in the third quarter and allowed their opponent to erase a 24-point lead and eventually take over. This was a tough game to watch because for a moment there, it looked like the Clippers might get back into this series. That feeling is now gone.

Spurs point guard Tony Parker led San Antonio in scoring in games 2 and 3 and has held Clippers point guard Chris Paul to 9.3 points per game.

Throughout the playoff series, Spurs point guard Tony Parker has downplayed his matchup with Clippers point guard Chris Paul.

San Antonio pushes Clippers to brink of elimination, erasing 40-16 deficit to win, 96-86, for 3-0 lead in Western Conference semifinals. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.

The end is near, no matter what the Clippers say, no matter which cliche they attempt to utter, no matter how much more stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin try to coax out of their bodies.

After trailing L.A. by 24 points in the second quarter, San Antonio remained focused as it trimmed the deficit to 10 by halftime, then took the lead in the third quarter and never looked back.

Slow and steady.

Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images The Spurs clamped down on Chris Paul again, limiting him to 5-for-17 shooting in another Clippers loss. LOS ANGELES...

The San Antonio Spurs showed more than enough veteran poise to move to the brink of another sweep in the Western Conference playoffs.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Nothing was going to rattle the calm, cool and collected Spurs. Not even a 24-point deficit.