INGLEWOOD — Winning their final four regular-season games was never guaranteed, not with the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors on the schedule.
The sub-.500 San Antonio Spurs, without their two best players, were one team the Clippers were expected to brush aside with relative ease.
The Clippers had momentum, a healthy roster and the drive to finish the regular season as one of the top six teams in the ever-evolving Western Conference standings.
All those things were nice, but they still needed an inspired second-half effort and a nudge from their coach to put away the Spurs, 122-117, in the first game of a back-to-back set on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers (47-32) next face the Rockets (52-27), who have secured the No. 2 seed in the conference, on Wednesday night.
The Clippers are part of a four-way tie with three games left in the regular season, but they occupy the No. 4 seed for the moment through combined head-to-head records. The Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies are fifth through seventh in that order, and the Minnesota Timberwolves (46-33) are alone in eighth place.
The Clippers’ spot could change tomorrow and again by the end of the week as no place outside of the top two has been locked down in the West and the third-place Lakers (48-31) are just one game ahead of the four-way tie. The Lakers can secure the No. 3 seed by winning two of their final three games.
After a sluggish first half, Coach Tyronn Lue said he reminded the team what was at stake – a chance to dictate their own playoff future and secure one of the top six spots.
“(I told them) we have a chance to do some special things, and we can’t mess around with this game,” Lue said of his halftime talk. “I know a few of the guys were tired and James (Harden) being one of them, said he was like stuck in mud, but other guys stepped up.
“And so, just however we got to do whatever we got to do to win the game, fight through it and the guys did a better job in that second half.”
The Clippers pulled together to win their fifth straight game and move closer to their goal.
“We knew we didn’t like the way we played, especially defensively in the first 24 minutes,” guard Norman Powell said. “So being able to get that bucket, get a stop, get another bucket, was big for the momentum swing of the game for us. We were able to push the lead comfortably.
“They’re young, they fight, they scrap, they play hard, they play together, so it was a good battle for us, a good test for us to be locked in mentally in the aspects of the game.
The Clippers’ recent success can be attributed to a healthy roster, according to Lue. With Kawhi Leonard and Powell back in the lineup, they have won 15 of their past 18 games, dating to early March.
“I think being whole, being healthy, we kind of show what we can do and who we can be,” Lue said. “Like I said, that and the trades. I think for Kawhi being healthy, James (Harden) playing at a higher level, it’s really been good for us.”
Two days after Leonard played in both games of a back-to-back set for the first time this season, the Clippers took a cautionary route and sat him for Tuesday’s game against the Spurs. He is expected to play on Wednesday.
“We knew he would have three days off (if he didn’t play Tuesday),” Lue said. “So, we just tried it out. It worked out. He feels good but (we’re) just being smarter about it.”
As it turned out, the Clippers didn’t need Leonard.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac continued to make his case for a spot on the NBA’s All-Defense team with his 12th straight double-double (24 points, 20 rebounds), the longest streak by a Clipper since Chris Paul had 14 straight in 2013.
It also was his fourth time this season Zubac has posted at least 20 points and 20 rebounds, tying him for the second-most in the league this season.
“He always plays and that’s huge, especially this time of (season) where guys are sitting out a lot,” Lue said. “But Zu loves to play. He wants to play, there’s been a lot of games where we were trying to sit him and get rest and he doesn’t want to sit. He wants to play and be there for his teammates.
“So, you commend that. You want guys in the locker room that want to play every single night. So, it means a lot to us.”
Zubac takes the attention in stride.
“I just want to play my best, want to get better and help the team win,” he said. “If that means I’m one of the best bigs so be, but I just want to win and help my team and make their life easier on the court.”
Powell finished with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Harden shook off his malaise and came up one rebound shy of a triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 19 points and Derrick Jones Jr. scored 18.
The Spurs came into the game already having been eliminated from postseason play, a somewhat predictable ending after star center Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season because of a blood clot in his right shoulder and star guard De’Aaron Fox had season-ending surgery on a finger.
Harrison Barnes led the Spurs with 24 points, shooting 8 for 10 from the field (6 for 8 from 3-point range) with five rebounds.
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