Chris Paul and Blake Griffin lead Los Angeles Clippers to a 97-85 win over New Orleans Hornets: NBA
Chris Paul had a double-double with 25 points and 10 assists, Blake Griffin dropped 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers cruised past the New Orleans Hornets 97-85 at the Staples Center on Monday night.
The Hornets were blown away at the very start of the game. While they were busy missing one shot after another, the Clips made their first 8 from the field, sprinting to an 18-2 advantage inside the first six minutes of the game.
The Hornets however found their range after the initial onslaught and brought the deficit to 20-27 after one. They then started the second frame on an 8-1 spurt to level the scores at 28. Nick Young made a three on the next LAC possession, only to be followed by a jumper from Carl Landry, making it 30-31. The reserve forward ended the night with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets.
In the rest of the period though, the Hornets committed six turnovers and allowed the Clips to outscore them 18-7 for a 49-38 halftime lead. The Hornets committed a season high 29 turnovers on the night, resulting in 35 Clippers points.
Things only went downhill for the Hornets after the break as they committed five more turnovers in less than 4 minutes, allowing Los Angeles to stretch their advantage to 54-40. The visitors tried to slash the deficit in the ensuing passage, but a 9-0 run keyed by 5 points from CP3, stopped them short in their steps.
Staring at a 16 point hold, the Hornets panicked and by the time the last frame started, they were trailing by 74-55.
A three pointer from Young pushed the lead to 77-55 and nearly three minutes later, Young knocked down another shot from distance to start an eight point unanswered run that pushed the Clippers to a 90-63 lead.
Young ended the game with 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the long range. His fourth quarter burst pretty much sealed the game and although the Hornets outscored the hosts 23-7 to cap the game, the Clippers win was never in doubt.
Ex-Clipper Al Faruq Amino scored 6 of his team high 15 points in that late run.
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