Griffin Leads Clippers Past Magic,114-86, For 6th Straight Win

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Blake Griffin scored 21 points and J.J. Redick had 20 before both sat out the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Clippers won their sixth straight, beating the undermanned Orlando Magic 114-86 on Wednesday night.

Chris Paul had 19 points and 10 assists for the Clippers, who have won their last four by an average margin of 21.6 points. DeAndre Jordan finished with 16 rebounds and blocked three shots. The two-time defending Pacific Division champions, who finished with a total of 32 assists, are 84-14 when they get 30 or more since Paul joined the club.

Tobias Harris scored 16 points for the Magic, who had only four offensive rebounds and no second-chance points through the first three quarters. They lost for the sixth time in seven games and committed 17 turnovers that the Clippers converted into 19 points.

Orlando center Nikola Vucevic, who began the day leading the league in total minutes played, total rebounds and double-doubles (13), sat out for the first time this season because of a back spasms. The four-year veteran had 19 points and 14 boards against the Clippers in a 114-90 loss on Nov. 19 at Orlando.

Kyle O'Quinn started in place of Vucevic and played eight minutes before receiving an automatic ejection for his flagrant 2 foul against Griffin with 5:54 left in the first half and Orlando trailing 38-35.

The Clippers never trailed, getting 17 points from Redick and 15 from Griffin en route to a 57-44 halftime lead. They opened the game with a 20-5 run before the Magic closed to 38-35 with a 12-2 spurt capped by Evan Fournier's 3-pointer and Ben Gordon's 12-footer with 7 minutes left in the second quarter.

But O'Quinn's ejection left Orlando vulnerable in the paint at both ends of the court, and the Clippers were able to pull away again after 7-footer Dewayne Dedmon took over at center for the Magic.

Griffin dove for a loose ball and quickly flipped it to Paul, who pushed it upcourt before hitting a 15-footer that extended the Clippers' margin to 73-52 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. The Clippers' second unit handled things in the fourth along with starter Matt Barnes, whose 3 made it 100-72 with 7:17 remaining.

TIP-INS

Magic: Rookie G Elfrid Payton, who came in with a team-worst free throw percentage of 49.0, threw air balls on his first two attempts and missed his first six from the line before finishing 2 for 9. ... Orlando made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons when Doc Rivers was their head coach, but they lost in the first round each time. ... Shooting guard Willie Green, who spent the previous two seasons with the Clippers, played 13 minutes and had seven points. ... Fournier has made a 3 in 26 consecutive games, the league's longest active streak. ... Harris has scored in double figures in each of his first 19 games, eclipsing his previous best stretch in the NBA.

Clippers: Redick, Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis all were teammates in Orlando during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, a fact that Rivers acknowledged was beneficial in terms of team chemistry. "I guess that probably helps, if they had a good experience when they were there. And those three had a very good experience," Rivers said. "I'll tell you where it helps -- when you're thinking about bringing one of them to your team. When we were thinking about Turk, I called J.J. And he loved him, so that made it easier for us to go after him."

UP NEXT

Magic: At Utah on Friday.

Clippers: Host New Orleans on Saturday.