Clippers again fall apart down the stretch, fall 102-91 at Portland

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 21 points in Friday’s loss at Portland/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Perhaps still hurting from Thursday’s  collapse against the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers on Friday again fell apart down the stretch, this time at Portland.

Down by just a point with 4:13 to play, the Trail Blazers outscored the Clippers 16-6 to emerge with a 102-91 victory at Portland.

The Clippers are now 6-6 after starting 4-0.

The Trail Blazers led 86-85 after a basket by the Clippers’ Blake Griffin. Portland embarked on a 14-2 run for a 100-87 lead with 1:46 to go.

The Clippers had turnovers by J.J. Redick and Griffin during that stretch. It was Redick’s first game after missing the previous three with back spasms. Redick scored seven points on 3 of 12 shooting.

Paul Pierce was rested and did not play. That gave the start to Lance Stephenson, who rode the pine against Golden State and the game before that played less than two minutes against the Detroit Pistons. Stephenson scored two points in 18 minutes.

Griffin led the Clippers with 21 points and Jamal Crawford scored 20 off the bench. DeAndre Jordan scored 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Chris Paul had 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting, and eight assists.

Also off the bench, Josh Smith had eight rebounds and two blocks and Austin Rivers scored 10.

Damian Lillard scored a game-high 27 points, 11 in the fourth quarter – nine of those on 3-pointers.

Portland (5-9) entered having lost seven consecutive games.