Blake Griffin

Immediately after Blake Griffin sent Pau Gasol tumbling to the floor following a monster dunk, the Lakers' forward stood up and protested, looking for a foul call against Griffin. No luck. Two days after the Lakers' 113-108 victory Wednesday over the Clippers, Coach Mike Brown hopes the NBA considers otherwise. He hopes the league reviews both of Griffin's dunks on Gasol that caused the 18,997 at Staples Center to cheer, Lakers center Andrew Bynum to wince and the entire Clippers bench to erupt.

The San Antonio Spurs swept the Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals, but there was no love lost between Tim Duncan and Chris Paul. After the Spurs closed the series, Duncan walked down the hall to say hello to Paul and his 2-year-old son, Chris. Paul prompts little Chris to tell Duncan where he wants to go to college. "To my birthday," little Chris said.  Paul then helps his son out. "Wake Forest," he said.  After little Chris repeated his father's words, Duncan, a Wake Forest alumni, flashed a huge smile.

1. The Lakers closed out properly against the Clippers. OK, so maybe it's frustrating the Lakers coughed up a 12-point lead. So what else is new. But they demonstrated how experience pays off over the Clippers mainly by closing out in appropriate fashion. Kobe Bryant's jumper gave the Lakers a 105-104 lead with 2:58 remaining. Metta World Peace's swipe on the next possession ensured the advantage. Ramon Sessions punished the Clippers for doubling up on everyone else, as he extended the lead to 108-104 with 47.4 seconds left.

The Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs Sunday evening following a 102-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Even though they were swept out of the postseason, many consider the team's season a success, regularly selling out Staples Center , reenergizing their fanbase and making the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Here's a glimpse of what Coach Vinny Del Negro and the players had to say in their post-game interviews.

Some things to keep an eye on when the Lakers (34-20) visit the Clippers (32-21) Wednesday night at Staples Center: 1. This game has big-picture implications . We'll break down some of the particulars in some of the notes below. But it's not hyperbole to say this game bears great significance in the 2011-12 season. The outcome significantly enhances the playoff seeding in two ways.  The Lakers hold only a 1 1/2 game lead over the Clippers for third place in the Pacific Division.

After the Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 87-86, in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series, Chris Paul's son sat in his father's lap as the All-Star point guard was interviewed by reporters. Paul was asked about a fourth-quarter sequence in which he dished the ball to Blake Griffin, who made a huge slam dunk with less than two minutes remaining to put the Clippers up by four, 84-80. "I just know I got into the lane," Paul said. "I saw the two guys looking at me and I saw Blake [Griffin]

SAN ANTONIO — There was an interesting tweet from Magic Johnson on Wednesday, the Hall of Fame guard saying what so many in Clippers Nation want to believe and what the Clippers themselves firmly contend. "The Clippers can win this series, but they are going to need both @blakegriffin & @CP3 to play not good, but great. " And therein lies the problem for the Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs. It is impossible to know whether Blake Griffin and Chris Paul can deliver, as they have all season, because of their injuries.

SAN ANTONIO - After Thursday night's 105-88 loss to the Spurs, Clippers players said that they understand the task ahead. Down 2-0 in their playoff series with San Antonio, they acknowledged that they need to win their next two games at home. History suggests they especially need to win Game 3 on Saturday, as no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. But after back-to-back 16- and 17-point losses, getting wins in Los Angeles may be easier said than done.

Kobe Bryant continues to encroach from below, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's perch still looks secure.? Bryant, up to sixth on the NBA's all-time scoring list after leapfrogging Moses Malone on Tuesday, probably will end the season still about 10,500 points shy of Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leader with more than 38,000.? Even if Bryant were to maintain his career average of 25 points a game, it would take him more than five seasons to catch Abdul-Jabbar ? and that's if he plays in every game.

After the Clippers played the Sacramento Kings in an extremely chippy game Thursday evening, DeMarcus Cousins called Blake Griffin an "actor" and said the NBA "babies" him. Griffin responded to Cousins' comments for the first time after the teams played again Saturday. "Well I first heard about it from my acting coach," Griffin joked. "He sent me the email and obviously he was thrilled.

Some 12 hours after they were swept 4-0 by the San Antonio Spurs and eliminated Sunday night from the Western Conference semifinals, the Clippers experienced a day for reflection about a successful season despite the pain of being pushed out of the playoffs. Monday also was a day for the Clippers to discuss the future and how they could sustain what was built during the 2011-12 season. The two people in charge of running the organization, President Andy Roeser and vice president of basketball operations Neil Olshey, have several key decisions to make.

Like many of his teammates, Clippers guard Nick Young has been coping with an injury throughout his team's playoff series with the San Antonio Spurs. His malady hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as Chris Paul's strained right hip flexor or Blake Griffin's sprained left knee, but regardless, Young's tooth really hurts. The Reseda Cleveland High School and USC alum has been putting off dental surgery to extract a wisdom tooth so he could keep playing in the playoffs. After joining the Clippers in March, Young's scoring spark off the bench has quickly become indispensable.

I'm sitting here watching a game the Clippers have no chance of winning and it's still a hoot. Who gets up for a game when already down three games to none to the Spurs and losing the last one after being up by 24? The Clippers should be deflated, but they are winning, 75-74, after three quarters. Their playoff run is over, and yet they don't seem to know it. Inspired effort is what fans have been getting from the Clippers all season long, and right now there are 19,000 fans on their feet.

The Clippers didn't go easily when they could have, when many thought they would have. They played Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the San Antonio Spurs right up to the final few seconds of the game Sunday night. Still, in the end, the Clippers dropped a 102-99 decision to the Spurs at Staples Center, getting swept out of the playoffs. Chris Paul had been the Clippers' savior all season, their closer. But he couldn't save the day this time, missing two shots late when the game hung in the balance.

Here's one for you: What would you do? I've grown to like the Clippers, love what Chris Paul has brought to them and appreciate what Blake Griffin has to offer. It's a fun group, Randy Foye and Caron Butler solid as individuals and Eric Bledsoe and Nick Young out of control but always in the cause of making something happen. Mo Williams is sour, but there's always one, or two, if you want to count Kenyon Martin . But who needs them if DeAndre Jordan is in the room?

Slow and steady. Nice and easy. Efficient and unspectacular. That's what impressed the Clippers so much about playing against the San Antonio Spurs. "They play the same way whether they are down 20 or up 20," Blake Griffin said. "And they always play hard. " In fact, the Clippers had the Spurs down by 24 points in the second quarter of Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Staples Center on Saturday. The Spurs cut it to 10 by halftime and took the lead in the third, never turning back.

Albert Pujols doesn't do much for me. He's already played 11 years and we missed much of that. Some folks go back to his time in high school wondering if he's older than what he claims. We might be getting him at age 39 for all we know, and what will he be like at 49 with the Angels still paying him? OK, so he'll still be better than most of the Dodgers, but now his wife, Deidre , is on the radio. She says it was an insult that the Cardinals offered her husband only a five-year deal for $130 million.

Here's one for you: What would you do? I've grown to like the Clippers, love what Chris Paul has brought to them and appreciate what Blake Griffin has to offer. It's a fun group, Randy Foye and Caron Butler solid as individuals and Eric Bledsoe and Nick Young out of control but always in the cause of making something happen. Mo Williams is sour, but there's always one, or two, if you want to count Kenyon Martin . But who needs them if DeAndre Jordan is in the room?

The end is near, no matter what the Clippers say, no matter which cliche they attempt to utter, no matter how much more stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin try to coax out of their bodies. And the end of the Clippers' season could come as soon as Sunday, as soon as they are finished playing Game 4 to complete a rare playoff back-to-back at Staples Center. In what Paul described as a "devastating" defeat, the Clippers squandered a 24-point second-quarter lead and were pushed to the brink of elimination by the San Antonio Spurs, who defeated them, 96-86, Saturday afternoon in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

SAN ANTONIO - After Thursday night's 105-88 loss to the Spurs, Clippers players said that they understand the task ahead. Down 2-0 in their playoff series with San Antonio, they acknowledged that they need to win their next two games at home. History suggests they especially need to win Game 3 on Saturday, as no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. But after back-to-back 16- and 17-point losses, getting wins in Los Angeles may be easier said than done.