The Los Angeles Clippers are backed into a corner. They are down three games to one in their first round match-up against the Golden State Warriors. The series is even returning to Oakland, making a comeback even less likely.
But not all hope is lost. The Warriors have blown a 3-1 series lead before. However, according to Clippers executive Jerry West, they will need Danilo Gallinari to step up if LA wants any chance of turning the series around.
“When it started, everyone picked them to win 4-0, OK?” West told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “Everyone said no contest, right? But this (Clippers) team, they keep playing.”
“If you look at the experience alone, forget the talent differential, this is a very, very interesting team. Very interesting. Doc Rivers has done magnificent job of molding these guys together. They’re not afraid. They compete.”
“But we need to make more shots against them. One of our best shooters is (Danilo) Gallinari and he hasn’t made anything and he’s an accomplished shooter. We just don’t have the offensive capabilities unless he’s able — not to put more pressure on him — but it’s hard for us to win unless he has more points. It’s kind of part of our DNA.”
Danilo Gallinari has been disappointing through the first four games of the series. His best performance came in the Clippers' Game 2 victory. He tallied 24 points, four rebounds and six assists. Nonetheless, in the other three games, the forward was inefficient at best and sloppy at worst.
The veteran is coming off a career year for the Clippers. At age 30, he averaged 19.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while shot 46.3 percent, all career highs. He also tallied 2.6 assists per game.
The Clippers will need to begin their comeback with a Game 5 win on Wednesday.
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