Blake Griffin shines as Los Angeles Clippers down Portland Trail Blazers 74 – 71 – NBA Recap
The Los Angeles Clippers came out on top after an intense battle with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night. The match at the Rose Garden was a combative one and both sides toiled hard, before the Clippers surge late to grasp an important win 74 –
71.
"We had a pretty good win last night. We were in a good mood today. We did a good job the first half. Then we started to relax a little bit and killed ourselves." Portland forward Nicola Batum said of the game slipping away from his team at the end.
The Clippers might have gotten away with a win, but the Trail Blazers had them on the ropes for much of the game. Their superstar point guard Chris Paul was held to just 13 points off 5-of-15 shooting from the floor. He was impressed by Portland’s defence.
"I couldn't make a shot. [The Blazers] were doing a really good job of defending. ... I'm still mad I didn't perform, but in the fourth quarter I was telling the guys that's where it matters." He said.
Where Paul failed, Blake Griffin succeeded. The sensational power forward was at the top of his game, scoring game high 21 points and grabbing game high 14 rebounds in a sublime double-double effort.
Mo Williams was another Clipper who got going, scoring 17 points off the bench.
The Trail Blazers were before star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge but others stepped up in his absence. Nicolas Batum scored 19 points, a joint team high with Jamal Crawford, who came off the bench for his 19. Wesley Matthews also impressed with 16 points.
The Trail Blazers were the stronger team in the opening quarter. They had a brisk start before the Clippers caught up with them at 16 – 16. Portland however ended the frame on an 11 – 4 run, score 27 – 20.
There were more fireworks from the Trail Blazers, an early 8 – 0 run in the second period taking their lead into double digits. The Clippers gave chase but weren’t able to make a dent, Portland leading 43 – 32 at half time.
Things started to turn just a little in the favour of the visitors after the break. The Clippers were able to reduce the margin and brought the deficit to single digits, going into the final period at 52 – 60.
What followed was a splendid display by the Clippers. They opened the period with a 10 – 4 blitz to draw close 64 – 62. It was just one way traffic from then on as the Trail Blazers stopped in their tracks, the wind knocked out of them by a furious Los Angeles
charge.
Matthews tried to bring his team back into it with a clutch shot from downtown, score 72 – 70, but their simply wasn’t enough time left and the Clippers claimed a gritty win 74 – 71.
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