Clippers Beat Lakers To Give Rivers His 800th Win
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin scored 36 points, Chris Paul added 29 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Lakers 115-104 on Saturday, giving coach Doc Rivers his 800th career victory.
J.J. Redick added 19 points for the Clippers, who moved within a game of the idle Jazz for the No. 4 playoff seed in the West. The Clippers have won three in a row and seven of nine.
The series between the Staples Center co-tenants has been dominated by the Clippers of late. They've won 18 of 20 since the start of the 2012-13 season.
Rookie David Nwaba scored 19 points and Brandon Ingram had 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers. They have lost 18 of 20 since the All-Star break. D'Angelo Russell, the team's leading scorer at 15.7 points, had two points on 1-of-9 shooting while missing six 3-point attempts.
The Clippers allowed the Lakers to hang around in the fourth, forcing all their starters back in after they led by 21 points at the start. Tarik Black's dunk cut the Lakers' deficit to eight with 2:52 to play.
But Griffin and Paul combined to score the Clippers' final seven points.
The Lakers scored the first nine points of the fourth to trail 93-81. Nwaba scored four in a row and Ingram had the next five points. The action bogged down while three plays were reviewed.
The Clippers dominated the third, turning a five-point lead into a 21-point advantage. They opened on a 24-9 run, including 10 by Paul that extended their lead to 79-59. Griffin and Redick added back-to-back 3-pointers and Paul scored four in a row to send the Clippers into the fourth leading 93-72.
Paul had 12 assists and made all 10 of his free throws, and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 12 rebounds.
The Lakers took their only lead of the game early in the second before the Clippers outscored them 24-19 to go into halftime leading 55-50.
The Clippers opened the game by scoring 17 straight points, making 7 of 9 field goals. The Lakers missed their first nine shots before going on an 18-2 run to close within one.
(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
