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 The Clippers forward scored a playoff-high 35 points, leading Los
Angeles to a 138-98 blowout of the Golden State Warriors in Game 2
of the Western Conference quarterfinals at the Staples Center.
Griffin connected on 13 of 17 shots from the field and nine of 10
free throws. He also did not commit a foul in 30 minutes after
fouling out with 16 points and three rebounds in 19 minutes in Game
1.
"I think we were a little encouraged because we played so poorly and
they played well Saturday," said Griffin, who also had six rebounds.
"I think we just kind of looked at our mistakes, tried to rectify
them and tried to correct them. I think the big difference was we
were actually more relaxed. You (could) just tell in the locker room
everybody was relaxed, everybody was so confident that we just go to
come in and execute."
"You saw it tonight, how dominant he is," said point guard Chris
Paul, who finished had 12 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and five
steals. "I think when we play that way, with that force and thrust,
it's hard to defend him."
Seven Clippers scored in double figures, including forward Danny
Granger, who came off the bench to deliver 15 points. Forward Hedo
Turkoglu had 13 points and center DeAndre Jordan added 11 points,
nine rebounds and five blocks. Griffin, Paul and Jordan did not play
in the fourth quarter.
The Clippers evened the best-of-seven series at one win apiece. Game
3 is Thursday at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
"We're going back home, so we'll be alright," said Warriors guard
Klay Thompson, whose foul woes limited him to seven points. "We'll
throw this one out."
The points scored Monday are a playoff club record for Los Angeles,
topping the 123 it had in a 130-123 loss to the Phoenix Suns in
2006.
Like Game 1, Los Angeles bolted out of the gate to a double-digit
lead. However, unlike the opener, the Clippers never relinquished
the lead and coasted from start to finish.
"We were tentative," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. "They
disrupted us with their intensity, with their aggressiveness
defensively. Give them credit. There is no sense in pointing the
finger anywhere else other than the fact that we didn't get it
done."
The third-seeded Clippers blitzed the sixth-seeded Warriors for a
67-41 halftime lead. It was a club record for points in a half for
Los Angeles. Griffin scored 21 in the first half.
The Clippers, who scored at least 30 points in each quarter, also
benefited from 15 Warriors turnovers that they cashed in for 18
points before the break. Los Angeles had only seven miscues in the
half. Overall, Golden State finished with 26 turnovers to 13 for the
Clippers.
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"It was a good win for us, obviously," Clippers coach Doc Rivers
said. "They came in here and did what they had to do, but I liked
how we approached the game, and came out and played the right way
tonight on both ends of the floor."
Point guard Stephen Curry led Golden State with 24 points, scoring
20 in the second half when the outcome was practically decided.
Forwards David Lee and Draymond Green and guard Jordan Crawford each
scored 11.
"Just a rough game all the way around," Lee said. "They responded
like what we talked about before the game. It was a game they needed
to respond, and they did that today and we didn't play our best game
at all."
Los Angeles shot 56.6 percent (47-for-83) from the field compared
with 47.4 percent (36-for-76) for the Warriors. The Clippers also
converted 12-of-25 (48 percent) 3-pointers to 4-of-19 (21.1 percent)
for the Warriors.
NOTES: Golden State C Jermaine O'Neal, who replaced injured C Andrew
Bogut in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points and four
rebounds in a strong performance on Saturday, was pivotal in the
Warriors' Game 1 win. "He played great," Clippers coach Doc Rivers
said. "I thought he was probably, if not the most important player
in Game 1, he was close." Rivers and O'Neal, who played for Rivers
for two seasons in Boston, earned technicals in the second quarter
for jawing at each other. ... Golden State has won 16 of 20 previous
playoff series when it captured Game 1. ... Saturday's victory gave
the Warriors a franchise-record 25 road wins. ... Game 4 is
scheduled for Sunday at Oracle Arena in Oakland, where Los Angeles
has dropped five in a row and failed to win there since Dec. 25,
2011.
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