NBA

Regular Season Round 105: LA Clippers - Portland TB 122-117

Date: February 12, 2014
The Clippers and Trail Blazers went back and forth for 48 minutes. When it was over, Los Angeles escaped with perhaps its most satisfying victory of the season — and Portland was saddled with its second heartbreaking loss in 48 hours. Blake Griffin scored 36 points, Chris Paul had 20 points and 12 assists, and the Clippers beat the Trail Blazers 122-117 on Wednesday night in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break. The Clippers, who set a franchise record for largest victory Sunday in their 45-point thrashing of Philadelphia, converted 16 Portland turnovers into 20 points during a nip-and-tuck affair that included 40 lead changes. "We were up one, down one, up one," Paul said. "I told them in the timeout: 'Fellas, we need to get a score and a stop.' I told B.G. if we get a score and a stop, it changes the whole game. It was frustrating because it was me making mistakes on defense, and they were getting shots. But all in all, it was a good win for us." The Clippers won for the 14th time in 19 games since Jan. 4, when the Spurs handed them their worst loss of the season, 116-92 in San Antonio. Paul made 10 of 15 shots in his second game back after missing 18 with a separated right shoulder. "It's definitely not (100 percent)," he said. "But as long as I'm not hindering my team and my teammates, I feel I can be effective out there." Jamal Crawford added 25 points for the defending Pacific Division champions, who go into All-Star weekend 37-18 — their second-best winning percentage at the break in franchise history. They were 39-17 last season, when they finished 56-26 and won their first division title. Los Angeles and Portland are each 5 games behind Oklahoma City for the best record in the Western Conference. "I'm in a great place, as far as our team going into the break," Paul said. "It's one of the best feelings I've had about a team since I've been in the league, just strictly because of defense. The biggest thing with us is that everyone has bought into the defensive end. We understand that we can score every night, but it's going to be our defense that carries us." LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and Damian Lillard had 21 for the Blazers, who are 5-8 since a five-game winning streak last month. The loss was their fifth straight to the Clippers at Staples Center. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had a miserable time trying to guard Aldridge in the first quarter, as the 6-foot-11 power forward made six of seven shots — one night after going 5 for 22 from the field and scoring 12 points in Portland's 98-95 home loss to Oklahoma City. "It's tough, especially going into the break," Lillard said. "You want to go into it with some momentum and on a good note. We played two good games, but we just weren't able to pull either game out." All of Aldridge's first six baskets against the Clippers came from at least 17 feet away, including a 3-pointer that gave the Blazers a 30-25 lead with 1:42 left in the period. "It's the NBA. You're not going to completely stop somebody from scoring," Jordan said. "I think they lead the league in scoring, but we did our best job tonight and we got stops when it counted." Los Angeles then went on a 12-0 run to go ahead 37-30 with 10:50 left in the second quarter, as backup point guard Darren Collison capped the rally with a layup and two free throws. Less than 7 minutes later, Griffin outleaped 7-1 center Meyers Leonard on a lob above the basket by Paul and finished the alley-oop for a 53-52 edge with 3:28 left in the half. "Blake's dominance is something that we need. He's been our MVP all season long," Paul said. "I keep telling him: 'I don't want to stop that. I don't want to hinder that. I just want to be a part of it.'" Courtesy of: abcnews.go.com
  LA CLIPPERS (coach: Tyronn Lue)122
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
48 GQaffaj, mliVR 47 64-86 (16.7%) 5-5 (5%) 65-68 (24.4%) 8 2 65 6 4 5 5 5 5 6 41 44 5
4 Oiul, ChQas 47 65-60 (11.9%) 5-5 (5%) 5-8 (5%) 5 3 3 68 4 5 4 5 5 4 85 81 5
66 CQiTfIQd, ziBil 49 1-68 (05%) 6-3 (80%) 65-66 (75.7%) 5 4 4 6 6 5 4 5 5 5 80 86 5
1 zIQdij, gRSjdQR 49 0-1 (24.4%) 5-5 (5%) 3-3 (655%) 8 3 1 5 3 5 8 6 5 5 63 62 5
88 miQjRs, biUU 87 6-8 (05%) 6-4 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 5 4 4 4 4 5 6 5 5 6 0 0 5
8 CIllasIj, giQQRj 67 4-9 (38.7%) 5-5 (5%) 8-8 (655%) 5 8 8 0 8 5 5 5 5 6 2 2 5
7 gudlRF, ziQRd 60 6-6 (655%) 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 6 6 5 8 5 5 6 0 9 5
80 mullIZV, eRDDaR 66 6-8 (05%) 6-6 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 0 1 5
  wuQVIDlu, HadiFRU 7 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 8 8 5
60 HIllajs, eFij 1 6-6 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 5 6 5 8 5 6 6 5 6 8 8 5
44 ziBasIj, SjUiTj  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
  kuniZaZ, Aishi  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
5 bullRjs, mFQIj  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
wIUil   38-17 (15.7%) 3-65 (35.5%) 81-46 (24.7%) 0 82 44 83 85 5 64 8 5 2 688 682  


  PORTLAND TB (coach: Chauncey Billups)117
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
68 SldQadDR, vibiQZus 49 7-69 (08.7%) 6-6 (655%) 3-3 (655%) 6 8 4 4 3 5 6 5 5 6 80 67 5
22 miUuB, XaZIlis 49 3-3 (655%) 6-1 (61.9%) 8-8 (655%) 5 9 9 9 4 5 5 5 5 0 64 63 5
8 biUUhRTs, WRslRF 40 8-9 (82.1%) 4-7 (44.4%) 8-0 (35%) 5 1 1 6 3 5 5 5 5 6 60 4 5
38 vIpRJ, eIMaj 43 4-1 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 1-1 (655%) 3 8 1 6 8 5 5 5 5 5 68 63 5
5 valliQd, giBaij 46 0-9 (96.3%) 4-0 (15%) 8-8 (655%) 5 6 6 0 0 5 5 5 5 1 86 68 5
80 WallaiBs, bI 89 8-3 (05%) 6-3 (80%) 5-5 (5%) 8 5 8 3 4 5 5 6 5 4 9 4 5
  bZCIlluB, C.z. 63 6-4 (44.4%) 4-3 (90%) 5-6 (5%) 5 8 8 8 4 5 5 5 5 5 66 2 5
66 vRIjiQd, bRFRQs 63 3-0 (25%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 8 8 3 5 8 5 5 6 5 5 2 65 5
6 WQaDhU, gIQRll 68 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 8-8 (655%) 5 6 6 4 6 5 6 5 5 5 0 2 5
62 CliLRQ, kaZUIQ  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
69 WiUsIj, qiQl  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
36 eIMajsIj, whIBis  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
0 miQUIj, Wall  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
wIUil   45-04 (01.1%) 64-46 (36.7%) 62-88 (26.2%) 7 84 48 81 89 5 8 8 5 61 669 76  



Terms:
Field Goals :  2PM-A  (2 point Field Goal made-attempts)     3PM-A  (3 point Field Goal made-attempts)   FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive)  DEF (Defensive)   TOT  (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed)  RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor)  AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes)  AST (assists)  ST (steals)   TO (Turnovers)   PTS (points)  RNK (ranking)