Los Angeles Clippers stage fourth quarter upset to defeat Atlanta Hawks – NBA Recap
The Los Angeles Clippers put on an impressive fourth quarter performance here on Sunday night to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 89-76 at the Staples Center. The game was pretty much balanced or the first three periods, but the Clippers
outscored the Hawks 24-16 in the final period and picked up the victory. Blake Griffin was the top scorer for the Clippers, finishing with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Chris Paul had 15 points and 8 assists on the night, going 7 of 12 from the field. The Hawks
put up an average offensive performance, with Josh Smith leading the team in points with 13, while going 6 of 14 from the field.
Both teams were tied neck to neck to start the first period, with the Clippers taking an early 10-6 through two free throws by Blake Griffin, but the Hawks scoring the next five points to take an 11-10 lead. After Al Horford tied
the game at 13 with a dunk, Griffin nailed a dunk as well and Paul followed with a three pointer to put the Clippers up 18-13. However, the Hawks were not to be undone as Louis Williams scored back to back three pointers for the team in the final two minutes
of the period to give the Hawks a 19-18 lead at the end.
The Clippers opened the second quarter on a 6-2 run to take the lead, but Williams again nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 24. The two teams battled for the lead for the rest of the period, which involved a series of lead
changes and ties. Jamal Crawford scored a layup to tie the game at 37, and Griffin then hit a jump shot in the final minutes of the first half to give the Clippers a 39-37 lead at halftime and the psychological advantage of being ahead at the midway break.
Back to back three pointers by Jeff Teague and Smith early in the third period gave the Hawks a 46-43 lead, and Kyle Korver later hit another three pointer to have the Hawks leading 50-45. The Clippers responded with a 6-0 run
later in the period to take back a 54-53 lead, and then scored the final six points of the period within the final minutes of the period to take a 65-60 lead into the final quarter.
After Devin Harris opened the scoring for the period with a jump shot, the Clippers scored the next five points and extended their lead to 70-62. A three pointer by Eric Bledsoe later in the period put the Clippers up 79-65, as
the team went on a 13-0 run to extend their lead to 85-65 and virtually knock the Hawks out of the contest. The Clippers won 89-76 in the end, after outscoring the Hawks 24-16 in the final period.
Caron Butler scored 13 points and 6 rebounds for the Clippers, while Bledsoe finished with 12 points and Crawford had 11 points on the night. Al Horford and Williams were the only two players apart from Josh Smith who had double
figure points for the Hawks. The Clippers led the Hawks 12-3 in steals and had 9 fewer turnovers at 13.
Tags: