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 With forward Blake Griffin scoring 36 points and grabbing 10
rebounds, the Los Angeles Clippers held off the Portland Trail
Blazers for a 122-117 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,175 at
Staples Center on Wednesday night.
Griffin connected on 13 of 21 field-goal attempts to lead the
Clippers (37-18) to their third consecutive win. Portland (36-17)
lost its second game in a row and its sixth in the past eight. Los
Angeles beat Portland at Staples Center for the fourth straight
time.
Griffin scored 30 or more points for the fourth time in five games.
"How dominant he is right now is something that we need," said
Clippers guard Chris Paul, who finished with 20 points, 12 assists
and three steals and topped 11,000 points for his career with a
basket midway through the fourth quarter. "He's been our MVP all
season long. I keep telling him I don't want to stop that, I don't
want to hinder him, I just want to be a part of it.
"I feel like we've all bought in to what we need to do to win. And
BG has been unbelievable, and I don't see him slowing down."
The Clippers' defense slowed the Blazers down the stretch to
prevail. After a bucket inside by forward LaMarcus Aldridge pulled
Portland to within 118-117 with about two minutes remaining, the
Blazers never scored again.
"I told them in the timeout. I said, 'Fellas, we need to get a score
and a stop,'" Paul said. "It was going back and forth — we're down
one, we're up one, we're down one. I told Blake if we get a score
and a stop, it changes the whole game."
A steal by Paul led to an alley-oop dunk by center DeAndre Jordan,
who finished with 14 points and six rebounds, off a pass from
forward Matt Barnes for a 120-117 lead with 1:25 remaining. Two free
throws by guard Jamal Crawford, who scored 25 points, secured it for
Los Angeles.
"It's frustrating because we played a good game and we competed,"
said Portland point guard Damian Lillard, who finished with 21
points and five assists despite being hampered by foul trouble in
the second half. "I thought they played well as a whole. I don't
think there was one guy that did everything for them. Other guys had
to make plays for Blake Griffin to get open jumpers and dunks."
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Aldridge finished with 25 points, and guard Wesley Matthews scored
15 points for the Trail Blazers.
Griffin praised the performance of his fellow All-Star.
"LaMarcus is one of the best players in the NBA," Griffin said. "I
mean, he's got almost everything. So he's a tough cover, tough
matchup."
Portland was playing for the second time in as many nights, coming
off a 98-95 home loss Tuesday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, the Trail Blazers showed few signs of weariness.
The lead exchanged hands 40 times. Portland led 95-92 heading into
the fourth quarter but couldn't hold the advantage.
The teams finished tied at 61 at the break. Griffin scored 18 points
on 9-of-13 shooting as Los Angeles made 60 percent (27 of 45) of its
shots compared to 53.5 percent (23 of 43) for the Trail Blazers.
Aldridge had 13 first-half points, while Lillard scored 12 — all in
the second quarter.
Overall, the Clippers shot 58.2 percent (46 of 79) to 51.2 percent
(43 of 84) for Portland, which led the league in scoring at 107.6
points per game entering the contest. Los Angeles was No. 2 at 106.6
points per game.
Jordan saw his string of 31 consecutive games with at least 10
rebounds end.
NOTES: This was the second meeting of the season between the teams.
The Trail Blazers earned a 116-112 win Dec. 26 at Portland. ...
Clippers coach Doc Rivers says the Blazers' acquisition of C Robin
Lopez in an offseason trade is a major reason Portland is the
league's top rebounding team. "That trade changed them," Rivers
said. "Lopez doesn't get a lot of credit because he does all of the
dirty work, but moving Lopez to the 5 and (F LaMarcus) Aldridge to
the 4 has freed (Aldridge) up to be him. ... They're a big
basketball team, and it makes them good." ... Trail Blazers F/C Joel
Freeland will be out four to eight weeks with an MCL sprain in his
right knee. Freeland suffered the injury in Tuesday's loss to the
Oklahoma City Thunder. ... Los Angeles G J.J. Redick missed his
fourth consecutive game with a sore right hip. ... Portland G Mo
Williams returned after missing three games for personal reasons. He
scored seven points in 27 minutes.
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