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After a successful opening run, Lob City has officially closed its doors for summer construction. How it will look when it finally opens back up again in October is anybody’s guess, but it's clear this town needs to make a few changes before it can be considered a serious contender.

Here are eight key questions facing the Clippers this offseason.

1. What happens with Vinny Del Negro?

Del Negro's future has been a cloud lingering over the team since late March, when the Clippers lost three road games in three days. The coach was on the hottest of hot seats and looked as though he would lose his job with the team’s next loss. The Clippers then won six straight games, salvaging Del Negro’s job and their season.

Was the Clippers’ strong finish and first playoff series win in six years enough to save Del Negro’s job? Clippers general manager Neil Olshey wouldn’t discuss Del Negro’s job status during the team’s exit interviews, but he has until June 1 to decide whether to exercise the team option on Del Negro for next year. The bigger question may be which coach the team believes would appease Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, who will soon decide on their long-term futures. Are the Clippers better off sticking with Del Negro or making a run at one of the high-profile free-agent coaches like Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Mike D'Antoni, Nate McMillan, Stan Van Gundy or Jeff Van Gundy? The smart money is on the Clippers sticking with Del Negro for one more season.

2. Will Paul and Griffin be with the Clippers for the long haul?

When questions about Paul and Griffin come up, Clippers front-office types like Olshey and team president Andy Roeser always use the term “Clipper for life.” It used to be a tag only worn by their longtime play-by-play man Ralph Lawler. After all, who would voluntarily chose to play with the Clippers forever and for Donald Sterling if they could go elsewhere?

That culture, however, has slowly begun to change, and much of that shift in philosophy has a lot to do with the presence of Griffin and Paul. If both believe they can be the cornerstones of a successful franchise, there is a good chance they will stay with the Clippers. There is no doubt the Clippers will offer both players max deals. The only question is whether they can do enough to convince Paul and Griffin that they will do everything possible to surround them with the players needed to contend for a championship.

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PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- Here are video interviews with general manager Neil Olshey and head coach Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday at the Clippers' practice facility.

Olshey at first joked that he planned to be like a politician and say a lot of words but nothing of substance. Then he refused to get into Del Negro's job status going forward and revealed only some of his plans to fill out the Clippers' roster this offseason.



Del Negro also declined to discuss his future with the franchise but expressed a lot of hope for the team as a whole, saying the pieces were there to add to Blake Griffin and Chris Paul and build the team further.

LOS ANGELES -- Here's Los Angeles Clippers Vinny Del Negro's postgame press conference following his team's season-ending 102-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at the Staples Center.

Del Negro admitted he was emotional to finish his second season at the helm of the Clippers but used much of the press conference to look forward to upcoming offseason and 2012-2013 season. He addressed the team's most immediate needs, saying shooters were the most important thing they need to add to the table.

"We have to do a good job moving forward of putting certain types of players in front of Chris (Paul) and Blake (Griffin)," Del Negro said. "That is the next step. I think that will help ease some of the strain and some of the the things he had to do to carry us at times, especially in the fourth quarters."

LOS ANGELES -- It seems like so long ago now that the Clippers put together their most memorable performance of the 2012 playoffs, a massive first-round comeback in which they pulled out an improbable 99-98 Game 1 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Three weeks ago today, the Clips did the unthinkable in Memphis, coming back from 27 points down and 21 at the end of three quarters to upset the Grizzlies. That victory buoyed L.A. into a series win and propelled them into a second-round matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, which has been decidedly less competitive.

Now, down 3-0 to the Spurs after Saturday's demoralizing come-from-ahead loss, the Clippers will essentially have to repeat their Memphis miracle for four straight games to stave off elimination.

That process begins Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the Staples Center, where Game 4 is set to tip off between the two teams -- assuming the earlier Los Angeles Kings' hockey game doesn't go into overtime and cause a conflict.

The sense of urgency the Clippers displayed in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and throughout Game 7 is exactly the same sort of energy they need for Game 4. Basically, the entire roster has to be desperate to win, or the Clippers are going to get swept.

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LOS ANGELES -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has seen Chris Paul play enough times over his seven-year NBA career to feel comfortable declaring that Paul hasn't been himself this series.

Speaking following the Spurs' 96-86 win over Paul and the Clippers on Saturday at the Staples Center, Paul's third straight poor performance of the series, Popovich indicated his team has been lucky to go against Paul at less than his best.

“I don’t know what Chris will say, but I don’t think he’s 100 percent Chris Paul,” Popovich said. “I’m looking at him, and I know that kid. I know how he can play, and he’s not 100 percent.”

Popovich isn't the only one who thinks that. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro has admitted that both Paul and forward Blake Griffin are battling injuries accumulated in the first-round series against Memphis, although he has steadfastly refused to speculate on the severity of either player's ailments.

For his part, Paul is trying to keep his strained right hip flexor at a low profile. Told of Popovich's comments in the locker room afterward, Paul interrupted an inquiring reporter and denied anything of the sort.

"I'm playing," he said. "I'm good. I'm good. I'm just not playing well, I gotta play better."

The first part of that is obviously true, and most would say the third part is as well. But the second is debatable. If he's indeed feeling "good," then how can you explain his three-game averages of just nine points and five-plus turnovers this series?

You can't, really. Outside of maybe San Antonio's overall dominance, Paul's struggles have been the single biggest reason why the Clippers have lost three straight to the Spurs in convincing fashion.

It's hard to win a playoff series against a top-seeded team when your top player is playing like a below-average one.

PLAYA VISTA -- Here is video of the Los Angeles Clippers previewing their Game 3 matchup with the San Antonio Spurs following a brief Friday afternoon practice.

Coach Vinny Del Negro confidently addressed the media, saying the team obviously needs to play better to win Game 3 after losing Games 1 and 2 but definitely can play better. He said the Clippers are clearly banged up but can win in spite of that.



Forward Blake Griffin said the Clippers watched a lot of film of their losses in San Antonio on the way home to Los Angeles late Thursday and in meetings Friday morning. The message from the coaching staff, he said, was mostly positive.

"It's still pretty good," Griffin said. "We're not completely out of this."

When the game was over and Chris Paul was changing in the visitors locker room of the AT&T Center in San Antonio, his 2-year-old son, Chris, came up to him and said, “You did a good job.”

Paul, putting on his suit, corrected him and said, “No, I did a bad job.”

The San Antonio Spurs had just defeated the Clippers 108-92 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series, and Paul was still upset at himself for finishing with just six points on 3-of-13 shooting along with five turnovers, five steals, three assists and 10 rebounds.

“He don’t know no better,” Paul said of his son. “I got every shot that I wanted and I think that’s the good thing about tonight. I didn’t knock them down but that happens sometimes. This is Game 1; we’re going to go back to the drawing board and see what we did well and see what we didn’t do well and get ready for Game 2.”

As upset as Paul was with his performance, there was no real reason to believe the Clippers would beat the Spurs on Tuesday night. Every statistical analysis, historical comparison and logical reasoning going into the game said the Spurs would win and it wouldn’t even be close.

Over the past 20 years, when teams playing with six or more days off play a team with one day of rest, they are 8-0 in the postseason with an average winning margin of 21.6 points. The Spurs, coming off an eight-day layoff, also had won their previous 14 games, winning by an average margin of more than 17 points. And the Spurs had lost just once to the Clippers in San Antonio over the past decade, including an 18-game winning streak prior to this season.

Although the final score might not indicate it, the Clippers came out with more fight than most would have expected of a team that had just played a Game 7 on the road 48 hours earlier. The Clippers held a lead in the second quarter, and even after the Spurs took a 19-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Clippers stormed back and were within eight points with less than eight minutes left in the game.

“If you’ve watched them, they always come back,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They don’t fold. That’s just a credit to their team. They just keep on playing and stick within the system, and they’ve come back many, many times, as we’ve all seen. That’s who they are.”

The Clippers have come back from double-digit deficits 15 times this season, which is the most in the league, but they wouldn’t be able to recreate their Game 1 “Miracle in Memphis” in San Antonio. Not when Popovich was calling timeouts during the Clippers’ run, and berating every player and cameraman in sight until San Antonio finished the game on an 18-10 run to comfortably pull away as Paul and Blake Griffin finished the game on the bench.

“They are pesky,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said of the Clippers. “They are tough. They pressure you. They force you to turn the ball over. They do that very well. They are that kind of team that pressures the ball and forces you into making bad decisions. It’s something we’re going to have to improve.”

Not only were the Clippers hurt by a rested Tim Duncan, who scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but they were hurt by San Antonio’s outside shooting, which did not show any ill effects from an eight-day layoff. The Spurs connected on 13 3-pointers, which tied the franchise playoff record, set in 2007. Against Memphis, the Clippers gave up 24 3-pointers over the seven-game series. The Clippers also have to shore up their effort on the offensive boards, as they once again were outrebounded overall 47-34. The Clippers now have given up at least 11 offensive rebounds in seven of their past eight postseason games.

“They just beat us,” Paul said. “We didn’t play effective.”

The lone silver lining for the Clippers was the play of backup guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored a career-high 23 points, and had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Nick Young added 13 points off the bench for Los Angeles. The Clippers’ “Goon Squad” of Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans likely will not be as effective against the Spurs as they were against Memphis. San Antonio will spread the Clippers out, and essentially take Evans and Martin out of the game by forcing them to play in the middle and run out to 3-point shooters. Case in point, Evans played only 8 minutes Tuesday, and finished with four fouls, three rebounds and zero points.

In the end, Tuesday’s Game 1 could prove to be a microcosm of this entire series. The young, scrappy Clippers will play the Spurs tough and give them a good challenge but simply won’t have enough to finish off a team that has won 117 playoff games and four championships over the past 15 years, which is second only to the Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the Clippers just won their second playoff series since 1976, 48 hours ago.

This series might end up being more about gaining experience and building for the future as much as it is pulling another upset for the Clippers. Just don’t tell that to Paul, who still remembers being ousted by the Spurs the only other time he advanced past the second round, four years ago.

“We missed a lot of bunnies; we missed a lot of little layups and floaters in the lane,” Paul said. “We didn’t get to the free throw line enough. We came in here in the locker [room] and felt like there were some good things that we did. We just have to stay the course.”

It has been almost 15 years since Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro last played for the San Antonio Spurs, but he’s still far more synonymous with the Silver and Black than any of the other eight teams he has either played or coached for during his basketball career.

In fact, when the Spurs played the Clippers earlier this season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted that Del Negro’s name is still uttered in practices all the time, but maybe not for reasons Del Negro would like to hear.

“Some of the stuff we do on defense, we actually have one thing we call on the pin downs, we say we’re going to ‘Del Negro it’ and that’s in his honor and we’ve done that for 15 years,” Popovich said. “We have a Del Negro defense out there because he couldn’t play a lick of D. At times we had to invent something just to hide him, so we call it ‘Del Negro’ and you do certain things on the court and everybody has to make up for that guy who’s the ‘Del Negro.’”

Popovich doesn’t really consider Del Negro a protégé the same way he does former Spurs assistant coach and current Lakers head coach Mike Brown. “He’s not a protégé,” Popovich said. “We never coached together but I was able to coach him.”

Del Negro spent his best six years as a player in the NBA in San Antonio but left the team after the 1997-98 season and missed the Spurs’ first NBA title in 1999. He still talks to Popovich regularly and watches the Spurs' games as often as possible. After San Antonio beat the Lakers 121-97 last month, Del Negro smiled at a group of reporters after the game and said, “Did you watch the Spurs?! Whooo!”

“We’ve always kept in touch with each other,” Popovich said. “We’ll share things and try to support each other and everything because he’s a wonderful guy. He understood the game, he wasn’t very quick but he really knew how to play the game, especially pick-and-roll and that kind of thing. He knew what was going on out there on the floor. When you’re around guys like that or Avery Johnson or Steve Kerr, you know if they want to they can coach someday because they really understand what’s going on.”

Popovich couldn’t remember if he talked about coaching with Del Negro at the end of Del Negro’s career in San Antonio, but figured it probably came up in conversation at some point.

“I assume I did. It was so long ago,” Popovich said. “I do that with a lot of my players to see what they want to do when they’re done. Some guys want to do [it] and other guys are smart enough to realize they [don’t] want to do it because there’s more to life than coaching.”

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After everything the Los Angeles Clippers had done over the past six months to change their perception and transform the culture of the team, they were right back where they started before the biggest game of their season.

Going into Sunday’s Game 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies, the history and numbers were stacked against them, a position the Clippers have become all too familiar with in their star-crossed history.

The Clippers had never won a Game 7 in franchise history and had won only two playoff series, the last in 2006. In the history of the NBA playoffs, the road team had posted a 25.5 winning percentage in deciding games of a playoff series.

As has been the case for most of this season, Chris Paul ignored the history and the numbers that were stacked against him and led the Clippers to their second playoff series win since 1976 with an 82-72 win over the Grizzlies that will surely go down as the biggest in team history. The Clippers now advance to the second round of the playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs.

There were questions looming around Paul’s availability, or at least his effectiveness, heading into the game after he suffered a strained right hip flexor in Game 5 that limited him in Game 6. The same was true for Blake Griffin, who suffered a sprained left knee in Game 5 that made it hard for him to stay on the floor in the fourth quarter of Game 6 and again in Game 7, as he played 1:39 of the final period.

It was Paul’s toughness through the first three quarters of the game that put the Clippers in position to win. He had team highs with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists heading into the fourth quarter, while no other Clippers player had reached double figures in points. But when the fourth quarter -- a time Paul has always referred to as “winning time” -- rolled around, it was the Clippers’ bench that propelled them to victory.

The Clippers' bench scored the first 23 points of the fourth quarter and took the Clippers from a 56-55 deficit to start the final period to a 71-61 lead with 6:17 left before Paul returned to the game and assumed his “closer” role. The Clippers' bench scored 41 points, the same number as the Clippers’ starters.

Reserves Eric Bledsoe, Nick Young, Mo Williams, Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans sparked the Clippers’ historic comeback from 24 points down with 7:55 left in Game 1, and the same second unit gave the Clippers a double-digit cushion in the fourth quarter of Game 7. The bench was one of the deciding factors in this series, outscoring the Grizzlies in five of the seven games, including a 41-to-11 advantage on Sunday.

Before the fourth quarter, Martin gathered the Clippers’ second unit and told them: “We’re going to be aggressive on the defensive end. We’re going to trap O.J. [Mayo] and we’re going to trap Rudy [Gay]. It’s on us right now. Don’t wait. This is what it’s about. This is what we’re here for. We’re in a great position, so let’s go out and take it.” Martin had been in these situations before as one of three Clippers who had played in a Game 7 -- and the only active Clipper who had advanced to the NBA Finals.

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LOS ANGELES -- It's been more than a month since the San Antonio Spurs have lost a game.

In that 32-day span, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan & Co. have gone 14-0, beating opponents by an average of more than 17 points per game. They've won as many games by more than 25 points -- three -- as they have by single digits.

Suffice it to say, San Antonio has been hot. And now the Los Angeles Clippers, having snuck by the Memphis Grizzlies in Sunday's Game 7 at the FedEx Forum, will play them in the Western Conference semifinals, beginning Tuesday in Texas.

It'll be a challenge, one that will go a long way toward shaping the public perception of Chris Paul's first season in Clipperland. If the Clippers somehow get by the Spurs, the year will be anointed a success, regardless of what happens in the next round(s).

But if they don't -- and, worse, if they get swept -- opinions will likely be somewhat split. Some will say coach Vinny Del Negro did enough to keep his job, considering the injuries and fast-paced schedule his team had to deal with over the past five months. Others will say he didn't, considering the two stars he had at his disposal and the bevy of other talent assembled for him during the 2011-12 season.

So, while we wait for that question to be answered, can the Clippers actually win this series?

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Western Conference first round: Game 7 (series tied 3-3) Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum, 10 a.m. PT

Five storylines to watch:

1. Healing up: The Clippers clearly weren’t the same team in Game 6 without a healthy Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, and less than 48 hours later, they’re not likely to be much better. The sprained left knee Griffin suffered in the third quarter of Game 5 and strained right hip flexor Paul suffered in the fourth quarter of the same game has made it impossible for both to be themselves on the court. After the game on Friday, neither player made an excuse for their performance, but with Griffin taking 20-foot jumpers instead of attacking the basket and Paul playing off the ball, instead of penetrating the paint, it was easy to see how much they were hurt. If neither can play better in Game 7, it would be hard to imagine the Clippers coming away with the win.

2. Closing time: With a win Sunday, the Clippers will accomplish something that has only happened to the franchise one other time since moving to California in 1978, and only twice in franchise history: winning a playoff series. The last time the Clippers won a playoff series was six years ago, when they beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round in five games. The 3-1 series lead the Clippers had to start the week is now gone after the Grizzlies have won the past two games to force a Game 7. Only eight teams in NBA playoffs history have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a seven-game series, but history is now on Memphis’ side. In NBA history, only 21 teams have won a Game 7 on the road. Orlando was the last team to do it, defeating the Celtics in Boston in the Eastern Conference first round in 2009. Also, in the 28 instances in which the home team lost Game 6, it has gone on to win Game 7 only 10 times (35.7 percent).

3. No excuses: The stats certainly back up what is clearly visible on the court with a limited Paul. The Clippers were outscored by 13 points during the 75 minutes that Paul played in the last two games, including by five points in Game 6. Los Angeles shot 38.9 percent with Paul on the floor in Games 5 and 6, after shooting 47.7 percent with Paul on the court in the first four games of the series. As much as he was limited, the Grizzlies weren’t buying any excuses heading into Game 7. "I didn't know he was hurt. He's hurt? I didn't know he was hurt,” Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph said. “Everybody's hurt if that's the case. It's the playoffs, man. We're not looking for excuses. My knee's hurting and I'm out there playing. I'm not looking for no excuses, because it's the playoffs."

4. Controlling the paint: Take a quick look at the final box scores from the Grizzlies’ wins in this series and it isn’t hard to tell that points in the paint will be key for them in Game 7. The Grizzlies are at their best when Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are at their best. In Game 6 they combined for 41 points and 25 rebounds and in Game 5 they combined for 42 points and 17 rebounds. While Griffin has done his best to keep pace with his injury, DeAndre Jordan has been a nonfactor, combining for eight points and four rebounds in the past two games. “I think that’s big for us,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “When Zach is doing other things it helps us. We feel he needs to get going and and get some good looks early. He’s been able to come through for us in the end.”

5. Bench help: The Clippers' bench nearly pulled out a win for them in Game 6. Led by Eric Bledsoe’s 14 points and six assists and Kenyon Martin’s 10 points and two rebounds, the tandem kept the Clippers in the game without Paul and Griffin and gave the team an eight-point lead with eight minutes left after a 10-0 run. In the series, the Clippers' bench has outscored Memphis in four games, including holding a 34-15 advantage in Game 6. During the season, the Clippers' bench outscored the opposition only 19 times, holding a 10-9 record in those games. Against Memphis, the Clippers' bench has outscored the Grizzlies 176-147 and is averaging 29.3 points. The Clippers' bench averaged 24.8 points during the regular season. “They played great and we had an opportunity to really put them away,” Paul said of the bench after Game 6. “I think that's something that's going to play back in my head a lot.”

LOS ANGELES -- Remember three weeks ago, when the Los Angeles Clippers lost their last two games of the regular season and effectively handed over home-court advantage in the first round to the Memphis Grizzlies?

They admitted then that they shot themselves in the collective foot, but that was mostly forgotten a few days ago, when the Clippers held a 3-1 lead in this series and looked to be probable candidates to face the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Now, suddenly, it looms very large, with the Clippers having dropped back-to-back contests, including one at home Friday night in a game they led by eight with eight minutes to play. Now, Sunday's 10 a.m. PT matchup in Memphis is an absolute must-win in a situation where the Clippers will be serious underdogs.

As he did when asked about losing home court at the end of the regular season, Chris Paul downplayed that part of Sunday's game when told of the ugly statistics for road teams in Game 7s.

"We've got to win," he said Friday. "This it. We could lose Game 5 and Game 6 and be OK, but Game 7 is going to be exciting. It's in Memphis, and we showed the ability to win there.

"I can't wait. You just leave it all out there. It is what it is."

The Clippers hand out printouts of selected quotes from their players and opponents after each game. They often skip over parts of the players' comments that could put the teams or the league in a bad light.

Their transcription of that Paul quote included two exclamation points, supposedly after he said "We've got to win!" and, "I can't wait!"

Watch the video here, beginning at the 0:47 mark. Does he seem happy or particularly enthusiastic when he says those phrases?

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LOS ANGELES -- Here's Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro talking to the media following his team's 90-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 of their first-round series Friday at the Staples Center.

Del Negro addresses the fourth quarter of Friday's game and what happened, how the Clippers coped with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin being hurt and the keys to obtaining a victory in Sunday's Game 7, among a host of other topics.

A sampling of his thought process: "Nobody is going to feel sorry for you, and we need to go out and earn everything. We will get there tomorrow and battle and fight on Sunday. Every game has been pretty close, and we will come out hungry."

Western Conference first round: Game 6 (Clippers lead 3-2)
Clippers vs. Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center, 6:00 p.m. PT

Five storylines to track:

1. Game-time decision: The biggest storyline heading into Game 6 is the health of Clippers forward Blake Griffin and Clippers guard Chris Paul. Griffin suffered a sprained left knee with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter in Game 5. Griffin returned to the game and played about nine minutes but did not score and went 0-for-1 from the field. Paul strained his right hip flexor with 5:16 remaining in the game. Paul played just nine minutes in the fourth quarter and scored only 2 points. They’re both listed as game-time decisions but bother players said Wednesday night they will be in the starting lineup Friday. "They're both pretty sore today," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Thursday. "They were in here getting as much therapy as they can today and tomorrow before the game. We obviously need both of them to be playing at a high level."

2. Closing time: With their next win in this series, the Clippers will accomplish something that has only happened to the franchise one other time since moving to California in 1978, and only twice in franchise history -- win a playoff series. The last time the Clippers won a playoff series was six years ago when they beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round in five games. Only eight teams in NBA playoffs history have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a seven-game. Game 6 in Los Angeles might as well be a must-win game for the Clippers if they want to win this series. In the history of the NBA playoffs, teams have closed out 62 of the 90 best-of-seven series when leading 3-2 and playing Game 6 at home (68.9 percent). In the 28 instances in which the home team has lost in that situation, it has gone on to win Game 7 only 10 times (35.7 percent).

3. Battle in the paint: In Game 5, Grizzlies center Marc Gasol led the team with a playoff season-high 23 points and Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the 2012 playoffs, in helping the Grizzlies stay alive. In the first quarter Randolph made all six field goal attempts and scored 15 points, while Gasol added 12 points, as Memphis scored 36 points in the first quarter, the team’s highest first-quarter output of the entire season. Meanwhile, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan combined for 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers. Jordan, however, didn’t do much to add to that stat line, finishing with 1 point and 0 rebounds. In the first five games of the series, the Clippers have been outscored 478-465 despite holding a 3-2 series advantage. The Clippers have also been outrebounded 250-236 in the series.

4. Close calls: Recent history says Game 6 will be a close game that will come down to the last couple of possessions. The Grizzlies lost by a one-point margin in Game 1 and Game 3. No team in NBA history has won a playoff series after losing at least two games by a single point during the series. Memphis did not lose a game by a one-point margin during the entire 2011-12 regular season. The average margin of victory has been only five points per game in the five games that have been played in this series. That is the lowest average margin of victory in any of the eight first-round series in this year’s playoffs. The average win margin has been 10.6 points per game in all of the other first-round games that have been played in 2012.

5. Bench warming up: The Clippers' bench has outscored Memphis three times in their first-round series, including holding a 26-20 advantage in Game 5. During the regular season, the Clippers' bench outscored the opposition only 19 times, holding a 10-9 record in those games. In the series against Memphis, the Clippers' bench has outscored the Grizzlies 142-132 and is averaging 28.4 points. The Clippers' bench averaged 24.8 points off the bench during the regular season. In Game 5, Clippers guard Mo Williams came off the bench and led the team with 20 points. It was the most points scored by Williams in this series, and the most points he has scored in a playoff game since he went for 22 points two years ago in Cleveland. In the Clippers' three wins in the series, the Clippers have been aided by big contributions from Eric Bledsoe, Nick Young and Reggie Evans. Young and Bledsoe have combined for 26 points and 7 rebounds in the fourth quarter in the Clippers’ three wins, and Evans has pulled down a team-high 15 rebounds in the Clippers’ three playoff wins.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock during the Memphis Grizzlies’ 92-80 win over the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night, the chant at FedExForum grew louder and louder.

"See you Sunday! See you Sunday!"

Of course, before a potential Game 7 back in Memphis on Sunday, there will be a Game 6 Friday night in Los Angeles. Mathematically, just like Wednesday’s Game 5, it will be a must-win game for the Grizzlies but it will be just as much of a must-win for the Clippers if they are still to win this series.

When the Clippers left Memphis Wednesday night and boarded their charter flight back to Los Angeles, they knew this had to be their last roundtrip to Tennessee if they hoped to make a trip to San Antonio next week for the next round of the playoffs. If they are forced to make a return trip the River City this weekend, they might as well start making vacation plans while they’re at it.

“We fought hard for home-court advantage and we want to take full advantage of it,” Clippers guard Mo Williams said after losing Game 5. “Our Game 7 is Friday.”

As hard as the Clippers fought to gain home-court advantage in their historic comeback win in Game 1, winning Game 6 will be even harder if they are forced to play with a hobbled Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Paul and Griffin both finished the game on the sideline after Griffin suffered a sprained left knee and Paul suffered a strained right hip flexor late in the game. Both will be re-evaluated Thursday in Los Angeles.

Chances are both will be on the floor Friday night, but the best indicator of how serious Paul’s injury may be was the sight of him on the bench in his warm-ups with the Clippers down by just six points with about a minute left in the game. This was the same player that urged Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro to keep the starters in the game when the Clippers were down 24 points with 7:55 left in Game 1, setting the stage for their comeback.

After Paul scored eight of the Clippers’ 14 points in overtime and led them to a win in Game 4, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said containing Paul would be the biggest factor in extending the series. As a reporter asked Hollins how Memphis was able to contain Paul in Game 5, Hollins was quick not to take any credit for Paul's absence at the end of the game.

"I think he contained himself when he got hurt and went to the bench," Hollins said. "He was coming on. He helped bring them back and then he got hurt and went to the bench."

As confident as the Clippers might claim to be if this series does go back to Memphis for Game 7, they know they have been consistently outplayed in all three games outside of the final eight minutes of Game 1. In the second half of their home playoff games in this series, the Grizzlies have been up by as many as 27 points in Game 1, 13 points in Game 2 and 24 points in Game 5. Overall, in this series they have outscored the Clippers 478-465. Talk to folks in Memphis and they’ll claim they are one historic blown lead in Game 1 and two missed jumpers by Rudy Gay at the end of regulation in Games 3 and 4 from moving on to the next round already.

"Our backs are against the wall. We felt like we should have definitely won the first game and we felt we should have won the first game in L.A. too," said Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds. "We’re right there. We just have to put a whole game together. We’re going to come out firing and we’re going to be ready."

Despite what a certain center in Los Angeles may think, closeout games are the hardest to win in the NBA, or any sport for that matter. No one knows that better than Paul, who has only won a single playoff series in his career. "The closeout game is the toughest one," Paul said. "It won’t be easy."

It will obviously be infinitely harder if Griffin and Paul are not at full strength for the Clippers by Friday night. Either way, the Clippers are hoping they can ride a loud wave of red-clad fans at Staples Center to their first playoff series win in six years and only their second since the franchise moved to California in 1978. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are simply trying to win their first game against the Clippers in Los Angeles this year to stay alive.

"We understand it’s going to be a tough environment but we’ve played in tougher environments," Randolph said. "We just have to come out and play basketball. We understand more calls might go their way but, oh well, we just have to come out play. We can’t argue with the refs, we just have to come out and play basketball."

If the Grizzlies can do that and figure out a way to win in L.A. on Friday night, well, as the old saying in Memphis goes, "See you Sunday!"