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Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs: Game 4 preview

Clippers forward Blake Griffin, center, is pressured by San Antonio Spurs teammates Danny Green, left, and Tiago Splitter during the Spurs' 100-73 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinals Friday.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin, center, is pressured by San Antonio Spurs teammates Danny Green, left, and Tiago Splitter during the Spurs’ 100-73 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinals Friday.

(Darren Abate / Associated Press)
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The Clippers will play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time in San Antonio. The Spurs have a 2-1 lead in the series after having won the last two games of the best-of-seven series.

The Spurs dominated in Game 3, leading by as many as 37 points en route to a 100-73 victory Friday. It was the fewest points the Clippers have scored in a game this season.

Chris Paul had more turnovers (six) than assists (four) for the first time this season, Jamal Crawford made only one of his 11 field goal attempts and J.J. Redick and Matt Barnes combined for four-for-12 shooting. Blake Griffin had a team-high 14 points, but it took him 15 shots to get them.

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At Saturday’s practice, J.J. Redick said the Clippers need to play with a “sense of desperation” in Game 4.

“You never want to go down 3-1 and be facing elimination in three straight games,” Redick said.

In Friday’s loss, Kawhi Leonard, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had a career-high 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting, four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

“Obviously Kawhi was awesome and had a great game, but after that, no one had a really high-scoring game,” Redick said. “They were just really balanced. They moved the ball. They made our guys work off the ball.”

The Clippers know they can beat the Spurs after having led by as much as 20 points on their way to a 15-point, 107-92, win in Game 1. Game 2 went to overtime, with the Spurs pulling off a 111-107 victory.

Redick said the Clippers need to make their Game 3 collapse a distant memory before heading into Game 4. After all, a Clippers win would even out the series.

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“You don’t get extra points for blowing a team out,” Redick said. “It’s one game. We could turn it around. We had a chance to win Game 2. These series can swing. If we can figure something out offensively, we can get some momentum in this series.”

Twitter: @melissarohlin

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