|
 Guard Jamal Crawford scored 21 points off the bench and center
DeAndre Jordan grabbed 19 rebounds Wednesday night as the Clippers
defeated the Hawks 85-83 to snap a six-season losing streak in
Atlanta.
Jordan threw down a dunk with 15.2 seconds left off a pass from
guard Chris Paul to put the Clippers ahead and Crawford made two
free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining.
After forward Paul Millsap made one of two free throws with 7.3
seconds left, the Hawks got the ball back on a Clippers turnover.
Millsap missed a drive, though, and the Clippers held on to complete
a 3-2 road trip.
"That was scary," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the final
seconds. "Great defense that last play by Luc (Mbah a Moute). The
way it turned out, their best offensive player went against our best
defensive player and our best defensive player made a stop."
Millsap had 14 points and 12 rebounds, but couldn't send the game to
overtime.
"I just missed it. For whatever reason, I don't know," Millsap said.
"I can make that shot, of course. You've got to make that."
The Clippers closed off the Hawks' first two options, leaving
Millsap to make his own move, which he did.
"They did a good job all game of taking away our first and second
options," Millsap said. "The (designed) play broke down, but you
can't be afraid to make a play (on your own)."
Atlanta, which had a six-game home winning streak snapped, committed
a season-high 23 turnovers, leading to 17 Clippers points, and the
Los Angeles bench had a 39-12 edge in points.
The Hawks fouled Jordan intentionally four times in the fourth
quarter, but the notoriously bad free-throw shooter went 6-for-8 at
the line and finished with 13 points.
Guard Kyle Korver, who was 4-for-4 from behind the arc, made a
3-pointer with 24.6 seconds left to put the Hawks up 82-81. He
finished with 14 points, while guard Jeff Teague scored 16 and
center Al Horford 15.
Paul had 11 points and 10 assists for the Clippers, who improved to
13-3 without sidelined forward Blake Griffin. He will miss at least
another four-to-six weeks after breaking his hand punching a team
employee over the weekend.
"This (win) is huge for us," Rivers said. "We needed a lift. We've
gone through a lot of stuff. Clutter is what I call it. The best
place for our guys is on the floor and they're playing like that."
[to top of second column] |
Crawford had nine of his 13 first-half points in the second quarter,
but the Hawks led 45-43 at halftime thanks to a closing 13-6 sport
and 5-for-9 3-point shooting.
The Hawks, benefiting from a late 12-0 run, were up 23-17 at the end
of the first quarter as the Clippers began the game making just four
of their first 16 shots.
Paul had just two points at halftime on 1-for-8 shooting, and the
Clippers were 3-for-12 from behind the 3-point arc en route to
finishing 5-for-27.
Paul got going in the third quarter, though, with seven points, and
the Clippers, after falling behind 63-54, were back within 66-64
going into the final period. The Hawks had eight turnovers in the
quarter and missed their last seven shots.
"Holding the other team to 83 points, we'll take that every game,"
said Hawks forward Kent Bazemore, who had 12 points. "But we didn't
execute. We had way too many turnovers."
NOTES: G Chris Paul, who just missed a starting spot in fan voting,
seems assured of being named a Western Conference reserve when the
completed rosters are announced Thursday for the All-Star Game in
Toronto on Feb. 14. ... Paul was expected to be joined by F Blake
Griffin, but he is out after breaking his right hand. "He feels
awful about it," Rivers said of the incident. "He's a good guy who
had a bad moment." ... Atlanta's Mike Budenholzer, who coached the
Eastern Conference All-Stars last year, is pushing F Paul Millsap
and C Al Horford as East reserves. ... The Hawks and Clippers play
in Los Angeles on March 5. ... The Hawks assigned 7-foot-3 rookie C
Edy Tavares to the NBA Development League for a two-game weekend
stint with Austin.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
