Then he was asked if Friday’s was a game of desperation.
“Hell, yeah,” Edwards said. “I hope it is for everybody. It definitely is for me.”
Gobert put in a full night’s work himself, going for nearly 44 minutes, including all 12 in the fourth quarter.
“I’m going to get some good sleep tonight,” Gobert said. “I’ll sleep a little more peacefully knowing that I tried to give my best every minute I’m out there. Some nights I’m going to play more than others. It didn’t feel like 44 minutes. I was so locked in and trying to get this win that I didn’t feel it.”
Gobert was the one who grabbed the ball with some finality at game’s end, after Clippers guard Kris Dunn stumbled and lost it with 26 seconds left. Conley and Alexander-Walker, who had missed a three-pointer with 31 seconds left, passed it back and forth to each other. The ball went to Edwards, then to Conley. He shot from the right wing but missed. Edwards tried to tap the offensive rebound back into the net, but he missed, too.
Finally, Gobert grabbed it and threw it over everybody to Conley as the clock ran out.