The LA Clippers escaped Portland with a dramatic 104-103 win on Blake Griffin‘s last-second three-pointer Thursday night.
BLAKE GRIFFIN!!! pic.twitter.com/qkrfmyfrq4
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) October 27, 2017
Griffin’s clutch bucket kept the Clippers’ record perfect at 4-0, and stunned the Blazers.
Blake scored 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Per the LA Times:
So when Clippers coach Doc Rivers gathered his team in a huddle with 5.1 seconds left and the Clippers down 103-101, Griffin was ready.
“I looked at Doc in the huddle and he said, ‘We’re going to run a pin-down for you.’ I said, ‘For a three!’ He said, ‘No, for a two.’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah right,’” Griffin said, laughing. “But I just kind of took what was there. Thankfully it went in.”
Griffin was positioned to be a hero because the Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum made only one of two free throws with 5.9 seconds left, leaving the door open for the Clippers.
“This win is big for our confidence,” Griffin said. “Our first road game, especially in a place like this where the fans are into the game. … We just fought, man. We just stayed in the game. We probably had a chance to feel sorry for ourselves and hang our heads. … You never know. That’s why we work on those end-of-game situations in practice because you never know what’s going to happen.”
