Blake Griffin scored 26 points in Monday’s loss to Atlanta/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

The Clippers on Monday trailed the Atlanta Hawks by just two points (60-58) when Chris Paul had to leave the game with seven minutes to play in the third quarter because of his fourth foul. In came backup Jordan Farmar, and by the time the quarter ended the Hawks held a 77-69 lead on their way to a 107-98 victory at Staples Center.

Not that Farmar, who went scoreless on 0 of 5 shooting, was the only reason the Clippers lost because there is more blame to pass around. But Blake Griffin said it did hurt not having Paul in there at a time when he usually is in the thick of things.

“When C.P. is not out here, that is a voice that is gone,” Griffin said. “That’s one of our best players and our playmaker. Vocally and even just playing-wise, I have to step up and do a better job. I didn’t do a great job tonight of taking advantage of mismatches and finding open guys and things like that. I need to do a better job there in that third quarter because when he was sitting, that was kind of when we lost it.”