Clippers’ Doc Rivers on win over Spurs: ‘That’s a series for the ages’

After the Clippers’ 111-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers wanted to say a few words before he took questions.

“That’s a series for the ages,” Rivers said. “...With like two minutes left, Tim Duncan walks up to me [and says,] ‘This is the first-round?’ ... I was thinking the same thing.”

The series was close throughout. Three games came down to the final seconds, and all but one of the games was decided in the fourth quarter.

In Game 7, with only one second left and the score tied, Chris Paul made a bank shot over Duncan and Danny Green to advance the Clippers to the second round.

“It was a great win for us, beating that franchise, but just their class,” Rivers said.

The Spurs have won five NBA championships, including one last season. The Clippers have never made it past the second round of the playoffs.

“That is the classiest organization, the classiest players, the best coach to me ever, or one of the top ones, so our respect goes to them,” Rivers said. “I mean, if we could scratch that somehow, some way in the next years, we would be thrilled to death.”

Rivers went on to say that this series was played the right way, without any dirtiness, fights or flagrant fouls.

“It was clean, solid beautiful basketball by both teams and I’m a better person because I went through this series, I guarantee you that,” he said.