| Advertisement |
April 16 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers was in no mood to admit that he might have booted his team's chances at a Game 1 victory Saturday in the Western Conference Playoffs. Rivers threw an insult at a reporter in his postgame press conference after the reporter asked him about the team's final possession. The Clippers fell to the Utah Jazz 97-95 at the Staples Center.
Advertisement
With 18.7 seconds remaining, Rivers' team was down two points. All-Star point guard Chris Paul used a pick and roll with DeAndre Jordan and put in a game-tying layup with 13 seconds left in the contest.
The Jazz used the extra time to win the game when Joe Johnson put in a bucket at the buzzer.
When Rivers reached the microphone, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus asked him about the strategy.
Doc Rivers goes off when he's asked if he considered running the clock down for the final shot down two pic.twitter.com/IGs09Hm4RZ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 16, 2017
"When Chris has a lane to the basket and he goes for a quick two, it sets up the opportunity," Pincus said. "What's the philosophy there? Do you wait and say wave off an easy attack at the basket? In other words, he could have held up and tried to run the clock down to the final – when you were down two."
Advertisement"Who would do that? Why would you ever do that," Rivers answered.
"Maybe to five seconds," Pincus asked.
"If he misses it, the game is over," Rivers said. "That makes no sense."
"I'm just asking," Pincus said in the exchange.
"That is like the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Rivers said. "When you're down two, you try to score. You don't wait."
"Do you rely on defense," Pincus asked.
"No, you score," Rivers said.
"As quickly as you can," Pincus asked.
"If you can score in one second, you do," Rivers said. "You always do that. And if you can find another coach to tell you different, I want to meet him."
The Clippers host the Jazz again at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in Game 2 of the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Clippers have never advanced past the conference semifinals in Rivers' four-year tenure. Last season his team fell in the first round to the Portland Trail Blazers.
