Griffin’s mentality fluctuated greatly, and he missed two free throws in a row.

Turning back, the Spurs had a free throw and possession opportunity.

Ginobili made the technical foul free throw, and the possession was still with the Spurs.

The Spurs’ inside-outside coordination, Diaw squeezed past Griffin and made a turnaround layup.

After losing his position, Griffin fell to the ground dramatically. The referee on the sidelines blew his whistle, but not for an offensive foul on Diaw, but directly called Griffin for a flop!

With that, Griffin jumped up and down on the spot.

The consecutive calls were very targeted!

Del Negro also rushed to the sidelines to scold loudly.

The audience booed.

However, after discussing in a huddle, the referees upheld the call.

The flop call does not bring about consequences such as fouls, and because Griffin had just received a technical foul, the referee did not upgrade this flop to the level of a technical foul.

In other words, from the perspective of the game, this was a violation, and Diaw's goal was valid.

But the league has clear regulations on flopping, and Griffin will likely receive a fine of about $5,000 after the game.

He’s going to have to pay out of his own pocket for this one.

Griffin’s emotions were obviously fluctuating a lot, and Paul quickly went over to comfort him at this time.

If Griffin gets another technical foul and is ejected, then the hope that the Clippers have finally seen will be dashed again.

Diaw’s goal was good, and the Spurs led by 5 points at 36-31.

In the Clippers’ frontcourt offense, Paul sent a perfect pass, and Griffin scored after receiving the ball.

Leonard was suspected of hitting his hand during the defense, and the referee gave a whistle.

Griffin took off his mouthpiece and roared, seeming to have regained his confidence.

In fact, the home-court whistle tonight is very obvious.

The calls that should be made will be made, the controversial calls will be biased, and there were even those骚操作 (sao cao zuo, mischievous operations) where a three-pointer went in but didn’t count earlier.

Paul and Griffin got the effect they wanted from their post-game complaints in the last game.

But it’s definitely not just because of their complaints.

In 2005, the Spurs and the Pistons played a rare NBA Finals series.

That series went to 7 games, but only 1 game had a score of over 100 points, and scores of 70 or 80 were the norm.

That was the least watchable NBA Finals in history, and it also set the lowest record for Finals ratings.

After that, the Spurs were not very popular with the league.

The NBA is a commercial league. If the ratings are gone, the amount of the new broadcast contract decreases, then what is lost is real money, and it is in the hundreds of millions.

So the so-called home-court whistle that Paul and Griffin complained about earlier is impossible to exist.

On the contrary, the calls in this game show the league’s dislike of the Spurs.

In addition, Los Angeles is a big city, and the league definitely hopes that they can go further, bringing greater benefits to the league.

So, for many reasons, the Clippers’ home-court whistle is expected.

If it hadn’t been for Griffin’s earlier outburst that angered the "capricious" Crawford, the targeted calls against Griffin earlier wouldn’t have happened.

Now that Crawford’s anger has subsided, the calls have returned to "normal."

Diaw assisted Leonard with a basket under the basket, and turning back, Griffin drew another defensive foul on Diaw.

The Clippers finally had their most comfortable way of playing.

The Spurs failed to gain an advantage in the substitute rotation, and the score on the field remained deadlocked.

With 1 minute left in the game, the Clippers led the Spurs 110-108, and they still had possession of the ball.

For the first time in the series, they had a chance to finally win the game.

The fans in the audience had all stood up at this time, and they finally had a chance to witness the first victory for the Los Angeles team.

Even some Clippers fans had unconcealable smugness on their faces.

The Clippers replacing the Lakers may very well start tonight!

Paul, holding the ball, called Griffin for a pick-and-roll, then a mid-range fadeaway against Duncan.

Duncan’s wingspan put a lot of pressure, and Paul was forced to increase the arc of his shot.

Difficult.

"Swish!"

But after the ball passed Duncan’s fingertips, it still fell into the net!

Saint Paul!

With less than a minute to go, the Clippers had a 4-point lead!

"Beat them!"

The fans in the audience shouted excitedly, and their confidence in winning the game was growing.

Popovich called a timeout.

"Manu, you come and shoot this ball, remember, don't shake your hand, I'm an old man and I'll shake, don't you fucking shake for me!"

Popovich shouted at Ginobili while holding the tactical board, and it could be seen that the old man was a little nervous at this time.

The Spurs' two big wins in the first two games were a good situation. If the Clippers were to win two games in a row at home, then the series would be dragged into a real war of attrition.

The Spurs can fight a war of attrition, but definitely not in the Western Conference Semifinals.

So the outcome of this game is quite critical.

When the timeout came back, the Clippers had their five starters on the court. On the Spurs’ side, in addition to Ginobili replacing Leonard, the other four were also starters.

Ginobili dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, and then signaled to run the zip hammer play.

The Clippers had become somewhat accustomed to the Spurs’ set of tactics, and the defense basically didn’t lose its position.

However, after Ginobili broke through, he didn’t pass the ball to Tang Tian in the corner, but instead passed the ball to Duncan under the basket!

A new variation of the hammer play!

Tang Tian’s catch-and-shoot three-pointer running gave Popovich new inspiration, and he brought it up directly at the most critical moment!

Paul shouted on the court to shrink the defense.

But at this moment, no one noticed that Ginobili had run out for a three-point opportunity with Tang Tian’s screen!

Duncan is not the final point!

The Clippers’ defense was being played around!

Duncan flicked the ball to Ginobili, Ginobili’s key three-pointer attempt.

Everyone in the audience held their breath.

This ball is the Spurs’ chance, but it must not go in!

"Swish!"

But their prayers didn’t work, and the basketball went into the net cleanly!

Ginobili’s hand didn’t shake, and the key three-pointer was a clean hit!

"Shit!"

Del Negro cursed, and then reached out to call a timeout.

The fans in the audience sighed for a while, and many people couldn’t help but look up at the scoreboard above their heads.

The 4-point difference suddenly became 1 point, and this three-pointer made the game full of suspense again.

Tang Tian reached out to high-five Ginobili at this time.

Ginobili smiled and reached out, but when he was about to high-five, he suddenly changed direction and slapped Tang Tian’s butt hard.

"..."

Damn, you hit me when I make a key shot, why do you have to hit me when you make a key three-pointer?

Tang Tian was a little speechless.

But he also had to be thankful that Duncan wasn’t like Ginobili, otherwise he would really be miserable at such a young age.

“No matter what method you use, defend this possession for me.”

During the timeout, Popovich only said one central idea.

Now that the Clippers are leading by 1 point, the Spurs must defend this possession if they want to win.

No matter what method?

Tang Tian had a flash of inspiration when he heard this.

ps: It seems like there’s some annual Golden Keyboard ceremony or something. If you see it, please click on Water Chestnut. I don’t have any thoughts about winning an award. It’s just that I saw him say that the top 100 will get 100 exclusive fan titles, which is a great opportunity to expand our Water Chestnut army~