Spurs vs. Clippers: Game 7 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NBA Playoffs

Chris Paul played through an aching hamstring. Kawhi Leonard battled near-constant foul trouble. Manu Ginobili was nowhere to be found. 

Yet the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs provided a near-perfect capper to their thrilling seven-game series.

Paul hit a running shot over the outstretched arms of Danny Green and Tim Duncan with one second remaining, giving the Clippers a 111-109 victory in one of the best games of the 2014-15 season. Los Angeles moves on to play the Houston Rockets in the conference semifinals. The two teams split their four-game regular-season series.

Fitting of a series that looked like the best first-round series on paper and then exceeded our wildest expectations, the Clippers and Spurs battled in a contest that was rarely separated by a few buckets. San Antonio's first-quarter lead of eight points was the biggest in the entire game, and there were 31 lead changes and 16 ties overall.

A number of those lead changes happened in an instant-classic fourth quarter, a see-saw battle that proved a microcosm of the entire series. Nine of Paul's 27 points came in those final 12 minutes, none more important than the final two.

Taking the ball with eight seconds to play, Paul ran through multiple failed attempts to get him separation and hoisted what appeared to be an ill-advised shot. But the man who's heard so much about his past playoff shortcomings found just enough space to get the shot off over Duncan and drained it to leave just one second remaining. 

Clippers forward Matt Barnes swatted away San Antonio's lob attempt for Leonard as time expired. 

Paul, who went back to the locker room in the first quarter after suffering a hamstring injury, played like his playoff reputation depended on it. He gritted his way through the pain and overwhelmed San Antonio on the offensive end, knocking down nine of his 13 shots. 

The Clippers also got a huge outing from Blake Griffin, who finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the series. Griffin finished with averages of 24.1 points, 13.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists overall.

The ascent of Paul and Griffin during this series helps continue a period of growth spanning four seasons. Their wins in Games 6 and 7 show growth from a similar situation a year ago when a controversial Game 5 loss to Oklahoma City arguably cost them a conference finals berth. 

"The more you try to keep a core group together," head coach Doc Rivers told reporters, "the more they learn from each other, they know each other and they can trust each other and they tend to have more confidence together compared to when you make so many changes that no one really knows each other."

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The Spurs know that better than anybody and got performances from players desperate to keep the band together. Duncan had 27 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth straight double-double and sixth in seven games. The Big Fundamental knocked down all four of his shots in the fourth quarter.

Tony Parker, who spent the entire series looking every day of his 32 years, finally put things back together for a 20-point, five-assist night. It was Parker who helped spark the offense in the third quarter, taking advantage of a hobbled Paul in certain spots. 

Unfortunately for the stars of San Antonio past, its future foundational piece struggled to get anything going. Leonard had a hard time getting into rhythm on either end of the floor due to foul trouble and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He shot just 1-of-7 in the fourth quarter. The Clippers also did their best to neutralize Leonard's defensive effect, at times camping his man in the corner and running 4-on-4 offensively.

The Clippers received stellar play from their oft-maligned secondary players. J.J. Redick and Barnes combined for 31 points and seven three-pointers. Redick knocked down two cold-blooded threes in the fourth that either tied the game or gave Los Angeles the lead.

While thrilling for fans, it's hard to not feel for San Antonio. This was, for all intents and purposes, a battle between two of the three best teams in the Western Conference. It was fitting of a conference semifinal—or even a conference final. Instead, because of NBA rules that guarantee a top-four seed to division winners, the Spurs and Clippers were stuck giving fans a first-round classic.

"That's a flaw," Rivers said, per Arash Markazi of ESPN.com. "I think the divisions are important. They're nice to have. They're nice to be celebrated, for some and some not, but I don't know if they should be celebrated as far as in the standings. I think it's something that the league will absolutely look at and try to fix. You shouldn't be rewarded if your record [isn't as good as others]."

As it stands, that "flaw" is at least partially responsible for the Spurs heading into their most uncertain offseason in recent franchise memory. Duncan, Ginobili and Leonard are all free agents this summer. Leonard is widely expected to re-sign to a max contract, but the futures of Duncan and Ginobili are up in the air. 

"I have no clue," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said of who would return, per Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. "We'll probably come back. The paycheck is pretty good."

If the paycheck isn't good enough for them to come back, the Duncan-Popovich era will end with five championship rings and an enduring legacy.

The Clippers, meanwhile, may look back on Saturday night as the time they began writing their own story.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.