Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers held a 10-point lead (31-21) over the Dallas Mavericks in the first quarter on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas. They led by just a point at halftime, then fell behind by 14 late in the third quarter.

The whole thing left Blake Griffin fit to be tied.

“It’s frustrating to be up like that, to get good leads, start out well and string some stops together and then give it away and fight uphill the rest of the game,” he said. “It’s not ideal.”

Speaking of stops, the Clippers were not solid on defense as the Mavericks shot a terrific 55.3 percent, 45.8 (11 of 24) from 3-point range. The Clippers gave up 14 points over the final 2:46, scoring just two of their own.

Griffin was asked if having so many new players on the team is making it difficult to find defensive consistency.

“I’m not sure, honestly,” he said. “Some of us just have to have a sense of urgency. I can’t really say that it’s new players. You can always play hard, play with a sense of urgency whether you’re new or we have a mixed group of guys. We have to find that somewhere.”