Los Angeles Clippers pick up their second win of the season with a victory over the New Orleans Hornets
The Los Angeles Clippers (2-13) stunned the New Orleans Hornets (11-2) with a 99-95 victory on Monday 22 November at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The Clippers snapped a nine-game
losing streak while the Hornets had won three straight heading into last night’s contest.
Blake Griffin continued his strong rookie campaign with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists while Eric Gordon finished with a team-high 27 points. Al-Farouq Aminu had 16 points while
DeAndre Jordan chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds. Eric Bledsoe led his team in assists with six helpers while Brian Cook led all bench scorers with six points and three boards.
Power forward David West had a game-high 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists while point guard Chris Paul shot only 5-for-12 from the field, finishing with 14 points
and six assists. Marco Belinelli shot 2-for-9 from three-point range, finishing with 14 points while Emeka Okafor had a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with four points. Jarrett Jack, playing in his first game with the Hornets after being traded from the
Toronto Raptors over the weekend, had 12 points, three rebounds, and four assists in 16 minutes off the bench.
In a game where the Clippers were without Chris Kaman and Baron Davis, Los Angeles lost the first quarter 37-33. Aminu, who scored all of his 16 points in the first half, led a 9-0 Clippers
run to end the second quarter, helping them enter the break down only two points.
The Clippers outscored the Hornets 22-16 in the third frame, taking a 77-73 lead into the final quarter, the first time the Hornets have trailed after three quarters of play all season.
With the score tied at 93 down the stretch, Ryan Gomes scored on a putback, giving the Clippers a 95-93 lead with 37.7 second remaining. West made a costly turnover in the last play for the Hornets, followed by two made free throws by Gordon to seal the win.
What they said
The Clippers have lost a number of close games recently. Gordon told reporters they just have to stay focused down the stretch. "Tonight we concentrated on staying focused and executing
the plays. That's what really got us over the hump. And we really grinded it out defensively."
While Griffin is enjoying a solid rookie season, capped by 44 points and 15 rebounds against the New York Knicks on Saturday, his free throw percentage is only at 55 per cent on the season.
"It's unacceptable. The most frustrating thing is to shoot 50 free throws in practice, make 46, and then come out here and miss over half of my free throws. It's not embarrassing. It's just something mental. It's something I'll keep working on, and I'll work
it out."
Paul hopes his team will enter games with a sharper focus after this loss. "For the past three or four games, we've just been getting by. They say winning cures all. But hopefully, with
this loss, we'll get back to paying attention to what we've got to do as a unit defensively."
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