LA Clippers, Chris Paul (with 20 assists) blow past Pelicans 133-105
The LA Clippers bounced back against the New Orleans Pelicans with a 133-105 win, while Chris Paul put together a remarkable 20-20 game with no turnovers.
Chris Paul put on a display, scoring 20 points and recording 20 assists as the LA Clippers cruised past the Anthony Davis-less the New Orleans Pelicans 133-105 to earn their 17th win of the season.
Paul also became the first player since 1984 to have 20 assists and 0 turnovers for a game. What an incredible way to bounce back from what was, by his standards, a bit of a down spell.
The Clippers (17-6) were on fire from the field, shooting a season best 57.4 percent for the game. They also halted a two-game skid to knock down a season-high from deep with 17 three-pointer.s.
DeAndre Jordan added 19 points with nine rebounds, and Jamal Crawford scored 22 points. J.J. Redick got out to a fast start with 10 points in the first quarter and 16 for the game. Austin Rivers got the nod to start his first game at small forward, adding 18 points before leaving the game with what appeared to be concussion like symptoms. Rivers came out of the game in the third quarter after having trouble keeping his balance.
The beginning of the game produced little defense from the Clippers. They had a sluggish start until the middle of the first quarter. The Clippers went up by four after the first when Solomon Hill hit a three as time expired.
Langston Galloway tied it at 35 all in the early second quarter before the Clippers took the lead for good. L.A. exploded in the third to take the reins and began to run the Pelicans out of the arena. The Clippers went on a 14-4 run to begin the third quarter and never looked back.
They were up by 28 to end the quarter and the fourth was essentially a back and forth between the reserves. Chris Paul did come back in because he was one assist short of his 20-20 game. He notched the 20th on an assist to a wide open Marreese Speights.
Quick hands from the Clippers were on display as well with ten steals, when they had only two in the previous game. Controlling the boards was key, too, edging out the Pelicans 40-34, while a season-high 34 assists and only 10 turnovers helped the offense run smoothly.
Griffin and Davis out
The Pelicans were without their superstar Anthony Davis (rest), and the Clippers were without their co superstar in Blake Griffin (sore knee).
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Well balanced attack
With Griffin out, the rest of the Clippers players needed to step up, and did they ever. Speights scored a season-high 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Six Clippers scored 16 or more for the game in a well-balanced attack to get a much-needed win against a team struggling early in the season.
Notes
Rivers has a mild concussion and was taken back to the locker room in the third.
Jordan grabbed the 6,000th rebound of his career.
Ralph Lawler called his 3,000th game of his career.
Raymond Felton missed his second straight because of personal reasons.
Chris Paul knocked head with a Pelicans player, and Jordan came and gave him a kiss on the head (not the most important note, but we’ve got to enjoy the little things, too).
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Up next
The Clippers look to go 3-0 against the Portland Trailblazers when they host them on Monday night. Blazers come into the game losing two straight and two straight to the Clippers in the season series. Blake Griffin is scheduled to play against the Blazers on Monday.