VIDEO; Blake Griffin had 31 points in win at San Antonio; these were booming

Blake Griffin and the Clippers on Saturday were coming off a 108-103 loss Friday at New Orleans, in which Griffin grabbed just four rebounds while scoring 19 points with six assists in 37 1/2 minutes of play. The rebounding total was less-than-inspiring for the 6-foot-10 power forward. But Griffin came back strongly Saturday when he scored a game-high 31 points while pulling down 13 rebounds in a 105-85 demolition of San Antonio at AT&T Center in San Antonio. Griffin also had five assists and made all seven of his free throws while shooting 12 of 21 from the field. Griffin’s play helped the Clippers (33-15) move into third place in the Western Conference standings: Here are two of Griffin’s 31 points; they were booming:

Blake Griffin has big first quarter at San Antonio, scoring 13 points on 5 of 11

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

Blake Griffin scored 13 points in the first quarter at San Antonio on Saturday and the Clippers led the Spurs 29-25 after 12 minutes of action at AT&T Center.

Griffin made 5 of 11 shots from the field. He also grabbed four rebounds a night after grabbing just four all game in a loss at New Orleans.

The Clippers (32-15) shot 52.2 percent from the field in the quarter.

Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio (30-17) with five first-quarter points.

Austin Rivers unable to explain team’s lack of focus in loss at New Orleans

Austin Rivers

Austin Rivers/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

Clippers guard Austin Rivers on Friday returned to New Orleans to help his new team take on his old team and his old team prevailed 108-103. Afterward, Rivers’ father – Clippers coach Doc Rivers – said the team did not have “great focus.” The younger Rivers was queried as to why.

I don’t know,” Austin Rivers said. “All I know is we can’t dwell thinking about it. If you start doing that, that’s how you start messing with, whatever. We had won six in a row, it was a tough loss. We weren’t focused, we gave them that win. We were supposed to take that from them, we are supposed to come in and beat a team like that. They played well, our focus wasn’t there 100 percent. But let’s get another six or seven in a row; let’s keep rolling.”

Austin Rivers scored 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting off the bench Friday.

Doc Rivers suggests team may have relaxed with Pelicans’ Anthony Davis out

Doc Rivers/Photo by Associated Press

 

The New Orleans Pelicans took a record of 24-22 into their game against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. The Clippers entered 32-14 and on a six-game winning streak.

The Pelicans were missing their best player – forward Anthony Davis – who is one of the best players in the NBA. That would figure to make it easier for the Clippers, but it worked out the opposite way because New Orleans won 108-103. Without Davis, the Pelicans outrebounded the Clippers 51-38, and Davis averages a team-best 10.4 rebounds.

It just didn’t make a lot of sense. But Clippers coach Doc Rivers is of the mind that perhaps  his team relaxed when it found out Davis was out with a groin injury.

“We didn’t have great focus tonight and we’ve been pretty good, so it happens,” Rivers said post-game. “But our focus was just terrible tonight. I don’t know if they found out A.D. (Anthony Davis) wasn’t playing or not, but that’s not how you have to approach a game. You think about the beginning of the third quarter and by the time of the third or fourth timeout, they had scored the rest of the game, so it happens. I’m not happy with them and our guys shouldn’t be happy with themselves. We played awful and we deserved to lose. Really, if we had won the game it would have been an injustice; it really would have been. We deserved to lose.”

How’s that for honesty? That’s the best thing Rivers could have said because his players have to know when they weren’t ready. Rivers sometimes is too diplomatic when assessing his team after a loss. Not this time. Good for him.

The Clippers (32-15) are 1-1 on their eight-game Grammy road trip. Next up is San Antonio on Saturday night at 6. The Spurs are 30-17 and in seventh-place in the Western Conference standings, two games behind the Clippers, who are tied for fourth with Portland.

Five things to take from Clippers’ 108-103 loss Friday at New Orleans

Eric Gordon, guarded by J.J. Redick, puts up a shot. He scored 28 points in New Orleans’ victory over the Clippers on Friday/Photo by Associated Press

 

– The Clippers have been playing well, so it’s hard to take a shot at them. But to lose this one when New Orleans did not have forward Anthony Davis (groin injury) – one of the top players in the league – has to be tough for them to take. That was Davis cheering from the bench as his team was securing the victory. The Pelicans are 2 1/2 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, so they are very hungry.

– The setback cost the Clippers (32-15) in the Western Conference standings. They went from being tied for third with Houston and Portland to tied for fourth with Portland, now a game behind third-place Houston, 2 1/2 games behind second-place Memphis and 5 1/2 behind frontrunning Golden State.

– The Clippers did not guard the 3-point line as well as they could have. The Pelicans shot 52 percent (13 of 25) from beyond the arc and that is not going to cut it. Forward Ryan Anderson and guard Eric Gordon, in particular, torched the Clippers from there. Anderson made 5 of 11 from 3-point range and Gordon was 5 of 7 as he went for a game-high 28 points. The Clippers, on the other hand, made just 25 percent (7 of 28) from long-distance.

– One could also say the Pelicans won this game from the free-throw line. They shot 26 free throws and made 23 for a whopping 88.5 percent. The Clippers, one of the more inferior free-throw shooting teams in tne league, made 12 of 17 for 70.6 percent. DeAndre Jordan was 0 of 2.

– It’s difficult to take a lot of positives from a road loss against a middle-of-the-road team missing its best player. But Chris Paul had a terrific game. He scored a team-high 24 points with seven assists, eight rebounds and three steals while shooting 10 of 20.

BONUS TAKE: The Clippers were outrebouned 51-38 by a team that, again, was sans Davis, who averages a team-high 10.4 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan had 15, Blake Griffin only four. Remember, Paul had eight and at 6-foot he’s 10 inches shorter than Griffin.