A late free throw by J.J. Reddick helped seal the game.
The Los Angeles Clippers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night in a match-up of Western Conference teams.The Blazers (12-14) were coming into Staples Center tonight struggling in the final quarter of the season, with games slipping through their fingers and going 2-3 in their last 5 with 3 losses in a row.Clippers(18-7)on the other hand have had both ups and downs starting the season but are 3-2 in their last 5 including a win over Cleveland last Thursday.
Blake Griffin led all scorers with 26 points and 12 rebounds on 12-25 shooting and Chris Paul had 21 points and 14 assists.C.J McCollum had 25 points and Damian Lillard added 24 for Portland.Both teams bench scoring was even at 36 points each,with Clippers Jamal Crawford had 14 points and Evan Turner finished with 15.
J.J Redick’s 3 free throws in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter helped pull the Clippers away by 4. Reddick finished with 19 points sinking all 8 of his shots at the line.
Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard sunk a 3 with 1.7 seconds to pull Portland within 1.
The game had both the teams trading leads until the final minutes but the Clippers prevailed handing Portland its fourth straight loss, all road games.
“It was an up-and-down game, back and forth,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “Each team made not big runs, but little runs and that was kind of the ebb and flow of the game.”
Both C DeAndre Jordan and Portland F Evan Turner were ejected in the final minutes,with Portland C Mason Plumlee receiving a technical after a hard elbow to Blake Griffin’s face during a drive, causing 3 stitches to Blake’s upper lip after the game.
“I’m sure there is no love lost,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “We play each other a lot and whenever you play each other a lot it seems like you get testy. We don’t really care if you like us or not.”
The Trail Blazers host Russell Westbrook and his Oklahoma City Thunder tonight,while the LA Clipper’s face Orlando on Wednesday night.
