A couple of losses didn’t do too much damage. The Los Angeles Clippers just needed a bit of rest before Blake Griffin and Chris Paul began what might be another impressive winning streak.
After losing to the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers didn’t wait too long – beating the Los Angeles Lakers and destroying the Golden State Warriors with a 115-89 win. The difference in the last couple of wins when compared with the 17 game winning streak? The Clippers are based once again on their two superstars, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
Paul led the scoring once again, looking energized and refreshed after the two losses. After 30 points against the Lakers, Paul continued with 27 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds against the Warriors. A revenge is probably a harsh way of putting it, but there was certainly some newly found intensity thanks to the beating they got in the bay area shortly before.
The first time they beat us here, you would have thought they won the NBA Finals. Then they beat us up there pretty handily, so we wanted to protect our home court. This was the third time we’ve played those guys at the end of a back-to-back, so we knew if we let them get out and run, we’d be in for a long night.
Blake Griffin was second on the scoring list with 20 points, 5 rebounds and a shocking 7 assists. The Golden State Warriors gave up early on this game, leaving a lot of opportunities for the Clippers to play the kind of fast basketball they love to showcase. After a lot of digging deep and grinding out certain wins through defense and depth, having a couple of fun “showtime” style wins is a nice change.
It’s not like the bench or the other players didn’t chip in – the entire Clippers lineup finished in double figures, as even Willie Green scored 11 points, spending 38 minutes on the floor in the blowout win, with no one to get angry at him for shooting a terrible 4-15 from the field. The Clippers had two more players off the bench in double figures – Jamal Crawford finished with 17 points and Lamar Odom, who most of his contribution this season has been in everything but scoring, finished with 11.
This was a business win for us. This is how we want to win games. We wanted to take care of it early, and that’s what we did. Wednesday’s game was pretty fresh in our minds.
How early? The Clippers scored 103 points through the first three quarters, he second-most in the NBA this season. They had a 67-43 lead at half time, shooting 61.4% from the field (later falling to 52.2%) and outrebounding the Warriors 24-12
The Clippers have now won 12 games at home, having a 17-3 record. Their 27-8 overall record is second in the NBA and in the West, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Clippers are still missing two veterans who were planned as being big contributors this season – Chauncey Billips and Grant Hill. If you thought they’re deep on the bench at the moment, wait till these two comeback. Maybe the Clippers are planning another long win streak.