Los Angeles Clippers beat New Orleans Hornets 93-77; Extend their winning streak to 11: NBA Recap
Los Angeles Clippers were eager to beat the New Orleans Hornets for two reasons. First it tied their franchise best record of 11 consecutive wins; secondly, the Hornets were the last team to beat the Clippers before they kicked
off their winning run. On the night, Clips accomplished both with a convincing 93-77 victory over the New Orleans Hornets here at the Staples Center. They have now matched franchise best record of 11 straight wins set by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves.
Blake Griffin had 18 points and 4 rebounds for the Clips while Jamal Crawford had 17 points and 5 assists in his limited minutes.
“The food tastes better, the music sounds better, you sleep a little better, everything seems better when you're winning." Chris Paul said who finished off with 10 points and 12 assists, becoming the third youngest player to dish
out 5000 assists in his career. The list includes the celebrated guards Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas, both Hall of Famers.
Robin Lopez had 22 points and 9 rebounds for the Hornets while Anthony Davis finished off with 16 points and 5 rebounds was all praise for the balanced Los Angeles attack he said
"We knew they were going to come out with a lot of energy. They made shots that they didn't make the last time we played them, and they got a lot of easy buckets," Davis added. "They've got a great team. They're all capable of
scoring the ball, from the starters to the bench."
A DeAndre Jordan layup put the Clippers up 4-2 early and they never surrender their lead throughout the game. Willie Green sank one from the three point range to put Clips ahead on 11-6, and an abrupt 6 nil spurt pushed their lead
to 20-12. Lamar Odom made a jumper to have Los Angeles leading 22-16 by the end of the period.
New Orleans started the second quarter sharply; they reduced the deficit down to 25-26 early but the Clippers kept the upper hand and pushed their lead to 33-27 with a Crawford layup. An 11 nil run gave Clippers a solid 46-30 lead,
and the Hornets were trailing 38-48 at halftime.
The Hornets were not to go down without a fight; they cut the gap down to 47-52 early in the third period, but the Clippers went for another run to jump up 69-52 with 3:01 to go in the quarter. A Crawford bank shot had them leading
75-56 by the end of the period.
Odom's jumper early in the fourth period left Clippers in complete control of the game on 84-60. Crawford connected one from downtown to extend the margin to 89-65 around the 6 minute mark and it was an easy sail for the Clippers
ship after that, as they cruised to a 93-77 win.
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