LOS ANGELES – In a point guard league, Chris Paul proved why he’s the best in the game on Saturday night at Staples Center.
Paul scored 24 points, 8 rebounds and had 12 assists as the Clippers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 127-91 for their third consecutive victory.
“Chris is this tough, cocky, strong point guard that just grabs the gym,” said 76ers head coach Brett Brown before the game. “I look at him and I’m blown away by his mindset, his personality and his strength.”
The pesky 76ers didn’t cower in the wake of the mighty Clippers. They hung around for most of the game, even getting within four to start the second half until the Clippers erupted at the end of the third quarter. The Clippers took a 14-point lead into the 4th and never looked back as they cruised to victory.
“We came out at the start of the third quarter and we were not very active,” said Paul. “They started out with a jump shot and a three pointer, which caught them up to a four-point trail. Then we just turned it up a notch.”
J.J. Redick continued his torrid shooting pace in the first quarter for the second game in a row, scoring 10 points in the first few minutes. He finished the game with 17 points and three big shots from downtown.
“It’s always nice when your first three or four shots go in,” said Redick about his hot starts. “Makes for a lot better night.”
Blake Griffin had 15 points and DeAndre Jordan controlled the glass again with a team high 10 rebounds. None of the team’s five starters played in the fourth quarter as the game was well in hand by that point.
Tony Wroten was inserted into the Philadelphia starting lineup before the game as second year man out of Syracuse, Michael Carter-Williams re-aggravated his shoulder before the game. Wroten played well in MCW’s stead finishing with 27 points and 7 assists.
“I was proud of our group for 36 minutes,” said Brown of his team. “I was proud of our guys, but the floodgates opened, it ends up being a long game, and the fourth period balloons the margin out.”
Rookie, Robert Covington, out of Tennessee also had a strong showing with 23 points and four three-pointers. Nerlens Noel played against the Clippers for the first time in his career and had a couple impressive dunks to go with his game high 12 rebounds.
“He’s really long and he’s a pretty good defender,” said opposing center DeAndre Jordan. “He blocked Blake’s shot one time. This is his first year playing and he’s definitely getting acclimated well.”
It’s been a tough stretch for Philadelphia who have 18 games in 32 days including nine back-to-backs. They have now lost five consecutive games all on the West Coast as they were blown out by Portland, Utah, Golden State, and Phoenix before losing to Los Angeles tonight.
“It was a great experience for us to play perennial All-stars in this league, from guards to big men, to be able to hold our own for some of these games, and the experience itself – experience is the number one teacher,” said an optimistic Noel.
Game Notes:
Michael Carter Williams aggravated his shoulder before the game and was a late scratch for the 76ers. Joel Embid, Jason Richardson and Hollis Thompson all missed the game for the 76ers. Andrei Kirilenko who was traded to the 76ers last month and was listed on the 76ers roster before the game was not on the bench and still has not reported to the team.
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