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 Guard Jamal Crawford scored 17 of his 27 points in the second
half and forward Blake Griffin added 25 points and 11 rebounds as
the Clippers rolled to a 102-87 victory over the Jazz on Saturday
night before an announced crowd of 19,060 at Staples Center.
The Pacific Division-leading Clippers (34-16) won for the fifth time
in their last six games. Utah (16-31) lost for the second time in as
many nights and dropped its fourth in the past six outings. The Jazz
fell to the Golden State Warriors 95-90 on Friday night at Utah.
Defense allowed the Clippers to break up a close contest and pull
away in the second half.
"We got some stops. We had good ball pressure defensively, forced
them to take some tough shots, got into the open court and hit
shots," said Griffin, who scored 14 of his points in the first half.
"When everybody is on the same page, like we were there in the third
quarter, we're a much better team."
Center DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked three shots and
chipped in 10 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles point guard
Darren Collison had 11 points and six assists.
"I thought in the first half we didn't feel like we shot the ball
well, but we were shooting like 50 percent," Jordan said. "But our
defense kept the game close. The second half we got our legs back
and we got a better feel for the game."
Center Enes Kanter paced the Jazz with 23 points and 14 rebounds,
including eight on the offensive end. Forward Richard Jefferson
finished with 19 points and guard Gordon Hayward had 15 despite
3-of-13 shooting from the floor.
The Jazz played without forward Derrick Favors, who missed his
second straight game with an inflamed right hip. They also played
without forward Jeremy Evans, who did not make the trip after
suffering a hard fall in Friday's loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Without Favors and Evans, the Clippers pounded Utah inside for a
54-30 advantage on points in the paint.
"Derrick's a real protector. He's a shot-blocker for us," Corbin
said. "He's a physical specimen also, so he can take the banging and
bumping inside and get the big guys off and finish with blocked
shots. We need all our pieces. When we have a guy out, we need to
step up."
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Los Angeles stepped up with a third-quarter spurt as it improved to
20-3 at home. The Clippers also stretched their winning streak over
Utah to eight in a row.
"Good win for us," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought it was
a hard game. You could see it early. We just couldn't get going, and
I thought our defense tonight was terrific and kept us in the first
half. The second half I thought it won it for us."
The lead changed hands nine times in a sluggish first half as the
two clubs creeped to the break tied at 42. Utah managed to shoot
just 41 percent from the floor (16 of 39) compared with 51.5 percent
(17 of 33) for the Clippers, but the Jazz converted six 3-pointers
and Los Angeles failed to hit any. The Clippers also missed nine of
their 17 free throws.
Overall, the Clippers shot 51.4 percent from the field (38 of 74) to
35.8 percent (29 of 81) for the Jazz.
Utah led 58-55 midway through the third quarter when the Clippers
went on 16-2 run after a dunk by Jordan gave them a 71-60 lead with
1:22 left. Two field goals by Kanter in the final seven minutes of
the quarter were the only baskets for the Jazz as the Clippers took
a 76-65 heading into the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Coach Doc Rivers is concerned about fatigue hindering the
Clippers' play. The club played eight of nine games on the road and
10 overall in 15 days entering Saturday. The Clippers visit the
Denver Nuggets on Monday before hosting the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
... The Jazz host the Toronto Raptors on Monday. ... This was the
second of three meetings between the two clubs. The Clippers won the
initial encounter 98-90 at Staples on Dec. 28 when F Blake Griffin
went for 40 points and 10 rebounds. Los Angeles visits Utah on March
14.
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