Clippers defeat the Miami Heat

The surging Clippers beat the Heat (30-10) 111-105 on the strength of their most impressive first quarter of the season.

The Clippers (13-24) scored 44 points in the first, then took a 19-point lead in the second and survived the inevitable comeback from one of the strongest teams in the league.

The 18-point lead in the first was big enough to hold on after the Heat outscored LA in each of the next three quarters.

The Clippers played a strong complete game and not only had distributed scoring and 33 assists as a team, but they only had 10 turnovers.

Again the combo of Eric Gordon (26 points, five rebounds and six assists) and Blake Griffin (24 points, 14 rebounds, six assists) led the balanced attack, but Baron Davis (20 points, nine assists and 5 rebounds) and Ryan Gomes (11 points) also had double-digit scoring, while Al-Farouq Aminu scored nine.

The Clippers have now won their third in a row, broke Miami's 13-game road winning streak and have now gone 7-3 in the last 10 games.

Griffin's double-double is his 30th this season