I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking a loss hard; I think there is a problem with overacting to a loss. – Clippers' Blake Griffin
LOS ANGELES — In the end of Saturday’s playoff opener against the Jazz, the Clippers missed numerous clutch shots, turned over the ball and generally acted like it was they who were the postseason novices.
But by Sunday, they were sounding like they were getting over a 97-95, last-second loss to the Jazz.
If you ask Blake Griffin, “it really doesn’t matter, you know.”
The Clippers spent Sunday loosening up at their practice facility in preparation for Tuesday’s Game 2 at the Staples Center. Despite the loss, they were taking it fairly well.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking a loss hard; I think there is a problem with overacting to a loss,” Griffin said. “I don’t feel we’re at that point. A lot of guys have played in enough playoff games to know this is truly a series.”
Griffin added, “We’ve been up 2-0 several times and lost the series, and up 3-1 and lost the series. We’ve lost the first game and won a series, so it doesn’t really matter, you know.”
Griffin noted the Clippers’ weak-side defense was a culprit. Utah’s Derrick Favors broke free several times, en route to a 15-point night. Joe Johnson drove the lane virtually unimpeded for the game’s final basket — as well as others.
Despite scoring a game-high 26 points, Griffin readily admitted his six turnovers were unacceptable.
“We had 15 turnovers and I had six of them,” Griffin said. “One, I know for sure, wasn’t a turnover. But five is awful. It’s definitely something we can fix. It’s just a matter of taking care of the ball.”
Coach Doc Rivers put much of the blame on his team not being aggressive enough.
“We didn’t play great, we didn’t play poorly,” Rivers said. “I thought they played very well; I thought they played harder. I don’t know if harder is the right word. I thought they instigated the game more than us. I thought we played hard … but I just thought they were the instigators. And defensively we lost our trust a lot.”