Spurs hang on to win thrilling Game 5, take 3-2 series lead over Clippers

Yeah, so, this series is not disappointing in the least.

The San Antonio Spurs hung on for a 111-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 on Tuesday, despite never leading by more than seven points. The Spurs now have a 3-2 series lead, while the Clippers surely feel like they blew a terrific opportunity on their home court.

Thought likely to be the best of the first-round playoff matchups, the Clippers and Spurs have given fans everything they could have asked for through five games. The Clippers won the opener, the Spurs stole home court in Game 2 and took the series lead in Game 3, and then the Clippers took home court back in Game 4.

And now the Spurs will go home with the chance to wrap the series up and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

Tuesday's Game 5 may have been the best encounter yet, the intentional fouling of DeAndre Jordan aside. 

It may be too good for April, but just enjoy it. There may be two more games of this still, and while it's unfair one team will see their season end there, the winner moves on to face the Houston Rockets in a series that could even top this one.

Turning Point

It's difficult to nail down a single turning point in such a back-and-forth game. "Game of runs" is generally an unspecific cliche, but that's exactly what Tuesday was.

In a game this close, the focus naturally falls on late-game execution.

At the free-throw line down 108-105 with 39.9 seconds left, Blake Griffin missed a pair of free throws, seemingly swinging the game in San Antonio's favor. But Chris Paul grabbed the offensive rebound, and after a Jamal Crawford miss, Matt Barnes was fouled corralling another. He hit a pair of freebies to cut the lead to one, saving the potential death knell of a possession and setting up a crazy finish.

Following a Danny Green miss from outside, L.A. had 6.9 seconds left. They called Griffin's number out of the timeout, and after a missed Griffin layup, Jordan had a potential game-winner taken away on offensive cylinder interference. Have a look:

It appears to have been the correct call, and from there the usual late-game fouling game played out in San Antonio's favor. What's worse, the ball may have been bouncing back in without Jordan's help:

Star Performer

It's tough to look past Griffin in this one. He scored 30 points with 14 rebounds, seven assists and four steals, but he took 25 shots to get there, spaced out on defense several times, committed five turnovers, missed the two key freebies late and missed the layup that would have provided a late lead.

With the bad outweighing the good for Griffin, the nod goes to his power forward counterpart, 39-year-old Tim Duncan.

Duncan was one of six Spurs to score in double-figures, leading the team with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and adding 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a late block on Griffin. It's crazy that he's still doing this.

Highlight Reel

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer tried to steal the show with his celebrations, but it was huge dunks from the Lob City crew that got him out of his seat. Again and again.

Oh, and Austin Rivers was surprisingly a thing once again, hitting a third-quarer buzzer-beater that probably tickled the owner, too:

Rivers shouldn't get any ideas about crunch-time minutes with the ball in his hands, though. The Point God is still around and doing Point God things:

Before the game, Gregg Popovich said he anticipates all possibilities, even earthquakes. Nobody, not even Popovich, expected Boris Diaw to be out here hitting shots like this:

Series at a Glance

Game 1: Clippers 107, Spurs 102 (Clippers lead 1-0)
Game 2: Spurs 111, Clippers 107 OT (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: Spurs 100, Clippers 73 (Spurs lead 2-1)
Game 4: Clippers 114, Spurs 105 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: Spurs 111, Clippers 107 (Spurs lead 3-2)
Game 6: Thursday, April 30, 9:30 p.m. ET
Game 7*: Saturday, May 2, TBD

* if necessary

Alternate Series at a Glance