LOS ANGELES – Gregg Popovich grew sheepish after hearing all of the nice things his Clippers counterpart said about him shortly before the start of a series many are watching as much for the coaching as the players.

“He has no honor,” Popovich said. “He really thinks I’m going to buy that?”

Now, blush is not something Popovich does. Unless, presumably, you’re talking about wine, in which case he also merlots and pinots.

But the praise Clippers coach Doc Rivers directed toward the five-time champion would flatter anyone.

“I think he’s the best coach in our era,” Rivers said. “I guess Phil (Jackson) and him would be the two. The three in history are Red (Auerbach), Phil and him.”

Rivers was a player for the Spurs from 1994-96, when Popovich was San Antonio’s general manager. He later spent a year on the team’s broadcasting team when Popovich was coaching.

Nearly two decades later, the two faced off in a playoff series for the first time, despite being among the most successful coaches in the modern NBA. Twice, Rivers has guided his teams to the Finals. Popovich has been there six times since 1999.

“I’m not on that level,” Rivers said. “I’m being serious. There’s guys that are on a different level, and he is one of them.”

Rivers also compared Popovich to Pat Riley and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who coached his son, Clippers guard Austin Rivers, in 2011-12.

“I feel like they all three had the same thing,” Rivers said. “They had this ability, and they all do it different ways to build teams, to get your unit to buy in. It’s a gift and when you have it you have a chance to be really good.”

Despite his playful assertions that Rivers was trying to get him to let his guard down with all the kindness, he sent some back toward Rivers. Especially when it comes to getting players to buy into a system.

“When he played,” Popovich said, “he was a team guy. He knows what the deal is. He knows what wins and what loses and he knows what teams are made up of, what the best teams have to do. He’s just being humble and tricky. That’s all.”

The impact of coaches in a series isn’t always apparent to the casual observer. But Popovich wasted no time putting his stamp on Game 1. The Spurs began intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan late in the second quarter. It’s a move that annoys coaches, but remains legal and is, therefore, a somewhat common strategy.

“You just have to be prepared for it,” Rivers said before the game. “You know it’s going to happen, and you know what it probably should happen honestly, until the rules change. You play to win the game. That’s his objective, that’s mine. And you can’t worry about how it looks for anybody. You have to do what you have to do and we will, too.

Contact the writer: boram@ocregister.com