Chris Paul added 20 points and nine assists, his biggest basket
being a 32-foot 3-pointer that gave the Clippers the lead for good
with just under two minutes remaining. Matt Barnes added 19 points
and Jared Dudley contributed 12 off the bench for the Clippers, who
moved 1 1/2 games back of the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder
with six games left, including one against the visiting Thunder next
Wednesday.
Marcus Morris scored 16 points off the bench to lead eight players
in double figures for the Suns, who are in a three-way tie for the
final two playoff spots in the Western Conference with the Memphis
Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks with games against both among their
seven remaining contests. Goran Dragic and Gerald Green added 15
points apiece for Phoenix.
Paul’s desperation 3-pointer to beat the shot clock gave the
Clippers a 108-106 lead and Griffin followed with an offensive
rebound and putback to give Los Angeles its biggest lead of the
second half at 110-106. A key stop came when Collison blocked Eric
Bledsoe’s drive and the ball went off Bledsoe and out of bounds with
10 seconds left, leading to two clinching free throws by Dudley.
An 8-0 surge gave the Suns an 84-71 lead with just over four minutes
remaining in the third quarter. Griffin ended the run with a
21-footer but he couldn’t stop the momentum as the Suns continued to
peel away behind P.J. Tucker’s three-point play that stretched the
advantage to 91-74 with just under two minutes left in the third
quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Griffin returned after missing Monday’s win at the
Minnesota Timberwolves with back spasms. … Clippers G Jamal Crawford
missed his second straight game with a sore left Achilles' tendon
and backup forward Danny Granger missed his third straight with a
hamstring injury … Clippers G J.J. Redick, who has missed the last
two months with a bulging disc in his lower back, is expected to
return during the team’s upcoming three-game homestand.
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