|
 Forward Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 32 points. Guard Jamal
Crawford came off the bench to record 29 points and center DeAndre
Jordan registered his 18th double-double with 11 points and 16
rebounds.
The Clippers (28-13), who lead the Pacific Division, are now 5-1
since star guard Chris Paul separated his shoulder Jan. 4.
"We're trying to take it one at a time, especially without Chris,"
said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "We just have to grind out."
The Knicks (15-24) dropped their third in a row after capturing five
straight. Forward Carmelo Anthony led four Knicks in double figures
with 26 points and 20 rebounds. Anthony shot only four of 23 from
the field but made all 16 free throws in the first 20-20 game by a
Knicks player since David Lee on April 2, 2010.
Guard J.R. Smith poured in 24 points, forward Andrea Bargnani
dropped in 13 points and center Tyson Chandler added 12 points.
It was a disappointing start to an eight-game home stand for the
Knicks, who are 7-13 at Madison Square Garden.
"My whole mindset when I took over this team was to try to establish
something at home," said Knicks coach Mike Woodson. "We have had
some slippage this year and that is frustrating. We still have seven
more home games on this stretch and we have to try to win them all."
The Clippers started their second seven-game road trip of the season
with a superb second half against the Knicks, outscoring them 59-45.
Los Angeles went 4-3 on the previous trip Dec. 4-14.
"Something CP (Chris Paul) always says when we are on a road trip,
'can't win them all, but gotta get the first one,'" said Griffin.
"Nobody is trying to do too much and that's what you need when a guy
like CP3 (Chris Paul) goes down.
"You can't replace him. We just need to elevate our game a little
bit."
Point guard Darren Collison has done an admirable job filling in for
Paul. He scored 12 points and dished out seven assists without a
turnover on Thursday.
Rivers' club started the fourth quarter on a 9-3 run to make it
85-70. It used a 9-2 burst later in the quarter to move the lead to
98-80 with 6:29 left. Crawford scored 14 points in the fourth
quarter, making five of his six shots from the floor.
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Crawford has proved to be a clutch player in the fourth
quarter. He's shooting 50 percent from the field in the final 12
minutes while averaging close to seven points.
The Knicks led 65-62 with four minutes left in the third before
the Clippers used the free-throw line to pass them by. Los
Angeles scored 10 of its final 14 points of the quarter from the
line, one of them when Griffin was fouled by J.R. Smith throwing
down an alley-oop pass from Crawford with 52 seconds left.
The Clippers whittled down an eight-point Knicks lead, 33-25,
with 9:15 left in the second quarter, to draw even at 50-all at
the break. The usually sure-handed Knicks committed 13 turnovers
in the first half.
Anthony endured a dismal first half, connecting on just two of
his 10 shots from the floor and turned the ball over three
times. Griffin scored 15 points in the first half, including 11
off of power drives that included two thunderous dunks.
Bargnani, Chandler and newly acquired forward Jeremy Tyler each
scored six points to help the Knicks to a 27-23 first-quarter
edge. The Clippers shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the
quarter.
Knicks starting guards Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert combined
for five points on 2-for-12 shooting. Shumpert went 0-for-4 in
25 minutes.
"They struggled," Woodson admitted. "They had a tough night.
Somehow either I gotta change the lineup or we just gotta get
our starting five clicking. Ray (Felton) and Iman (Shumpert)
can't have games like this."
NOTES: The Knicks and the Clippers were a combined 15-for-53
from beyond the arc. ... Clippers F Blake Griffin is the only
player in the NBA averaging 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and
three-plus assists and shooting at least 50 percent from the
field. He was fourth in the NBA in dunks with 81 heading into
Friday night's game. ... The Clippers will travel approximately
11,275 air miles during a 12-day period on their seven-game road
trip. ... Los Angeles signed F Hedo Turkoglu as a free agent. He
hasn't played since Feb. 4 with Orlando, battling a hand injury
while also serving a 20-game suspension for using
performance-enhancing drugs. ... The Knicks were without F
Kenyon Martin (sprained ankle) and F Amar'e Stoudemire (sprained
ankle). Knicks coach Mike Woodson said they will each miss at
least two weeks... New York averages the fewest turnovers per
game in the NBA at 12.5. ... Knicks G Tim Hardaway Jr. is tops
among rookies in 3-point shooting percentage (.389).
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