AND SO ENDS the Golden State warriors unlikely NBA Championship dream.
The GSW lost out to the Los Angeles Clippers to fall at the first playoff hurdle of the NBA post-season. They led the Clippers 64-56 at the mid-point but could not contain the likes of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul in the closing stages.
Griffin top-scored with 24 points in the Game 7 clash but his stand-out basket was removed from the usual jams that so often leave his opponents reeling.
The Clippers have battled through a publicity storm following the ill-advised comments of former General Manager Donald Sterling.
Griffin said, “It meant a lot because I think [coach Doc Rivers] of all people has probably been through the most, I mean, just because he really had to deal with it the first couple days, we weren’t really.
“We, as a team decided not to really speak on it; he was the guy that everybody was kind of looking to and he‘s our leader of our team. Emotionally, I can‘t imagine what he was going through. You can tell, he really had a sense of relief once this was over, you know, we kind of got through [this] physically tough and mentally tough series.”
The Clippers face Oklahoma Thunder in Round 2.
