Clippers Top Lakers Behind Hot Shooting Jordan
LOS ANGELES (AP) — DeAndre Jordan scored 24 points on 12-of-13 shooting, and the Los Angeles Clippers shot 52 percent to cruise past the Lakers 113-97 on Saturday and improve to 6-0 in 2017.
Jordan had 21 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 20 points and 13 assists for the Clippers, off to their best start since going 7-0 to begin 1974 when the franchise was located in Buffalo. Their streak is the longest active one in the NBA.
The Clippers shot 52 percent and are 15-0 when they do so. Led by Jordan, they had a season-high 56 points in the paint.
Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points for the Lakers, who never led in losing their third in a row and seventh in 10 games.
Jordan's shooting was nearly perfect; he tipped in his own miss with 4:41 remaining in the game for his lone miss.
The big man put on a dunk clinic with eight, including a two-handed jam on the game's opening possession.
The Lakers, who shot 44 percent, never made a run in the fourth.
The Lakers cut their deficit from 19 points to 10 in the third. After an unsportsmanlike technical for hanging on the rim, Timofey Mozgov dunked to launch a 9-2 run that included consecutive 3-pointers by Brandon Ingram and Nick Young and got the Lakers to 69-59.
The Clippers closed with a 15-9 spurt that sent them into the fourth leading 84-68. Jordan had two more dunks, both one-handers in the quarter.
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