THIS WIN IS BIG AND EASY
Clippers’ high-energy victory over New Orleans brings them back to the .500 mark.
It was as if the Clippers read “Winning for Dummies” after inexplicably mucking up most of the season’s first month.
A team with three of the NBA’s top players and a fortified supporting cast finally played like it Friday night at Staples Center, looking strong for most of a 111-90 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Clippers stars Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench, a rarity during a season in which finishing games has been a continual issue. The Clippers had no such problem in building leads as large as 25 points after Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis departed late in the third quarter with a right knee injury.
“I wish we looked like this every night,” said Paul, who was effective in all areas with
17 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Griffin and J.J. Redick each scored 20 points for the Clippers (8-8), who got back to .500 in a high-energy performance that satisfied fans from the franchise-record 200th consecutive home sellout.
Griffin smartly did the majority of his damage around the basket with his jumper not falling, his points mostly coming on layups. Redick made eight of 14 shots in a bounce-back effort from his one-for-six effort two nights earlier against the Utah Jazz.
The Clippers’ bench also provided plenty of highlights, with Lance Stephenson firing a behind-the-back pass to Luc Mbah a Moute in the final minutes for a twohanded dunk. Stephenson had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists and Austin Rivers added 17 points.
There were tensions between the teams late in the third quarter after Paul ran into Davis while dribbling in transition, causing Davis to crumple to the court clutching his right knee.
The Pelicans received two technical fouls after complaining about the foul being called on Davis, who had to be helped to the locker room and did not return after being diagnosed with a bruise but no structural damage.
“It’s a smart play because you know that big can’t stop,” said Clippers Coach Doc Rivers, himself a former point guard, of Paul initiating the contact. “I did it all the time.”
Said Paul: “I drew a foul. We knocked knees. I hope he’s all right.”
Davis finished with a team-high 17 points for the Pelicans, who made only five of 20 three-pointers.
Asked about the early season struggles of the team he once coached before the game, Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said: “I think they’re going to be more than fine.”
The Clippers went out and made Gentry look prophetic in building a 21-point halftime lead, their largest of the season. Their ball movement was crisp and their perimeter defense was solid, holding the Pelicans to twofor-12 shooting from beyond the three-point arc in the first half.
The Clippers played like a team determined to be better after a dreadful start to their season. Redick said at the morning shoot-around that he thought his team was capable of compiling a stretch in which it won 20 of 25 games to get back to where people expected it to be in the Western Conference.
Reaching the break-even mark was a start.
“We are desperate,” Redick said. “We have to not look at this as something where we can ease into things or that eventually we’ll start winning. It’s got to be now, and that seems to be the atmosphere in the locker room.”