Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers
Clippers forward Blake Griffin led everyone with 29 points, J.J. Redick scored 15 and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four steals and the Clippers demolished Golden State 130-95 on Tuesday night in exhibition play at Staples Center.
Three reserves – Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith – all scored in double figures with Rivers getting 16 and Smith and Crawford 13 apiece.
The Clippers – now 2-3 in exhibition play – had lost their previous three games. They lost their most recent game – to Charlotte in China – by 42 points.
“It was important to get a good rhythm and I think it was important to kind of wash that taste out of our mouths from the last three games,” Griffin said. “And I thought we did that, I thought we looked better and I think that’s the result of the way we’ve practiced the last three days.”
There were seven player technical fouls – five for the Clippers, two for Chris Paul – who was ejected in the third quarter. Mostly, it was players arguing with officials, though there was a bit of back-and-forth chirping between the teams. That bugged coach Doc Rivers.
“Yeah, I didn’t like that,” he said. “That’s the only negative of the game. I think that was way to many techs in one game. And for both teams, I didn’t like that at all. I don’t mind the energy both teams have toward each other, but you can do it without the technicals and all that stuff.”
The Warriors (2-4) played without Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala, who were rested. They got a team-high 21 points from Klay Thompson.
Draymond Green, who scored nine, wasn’t all that worried about the loss, but he wasn’t thrilled by its margin.
“No, I don’t think losing is a deep concern,” he said. “Losing by 35 isn’t OK, though.”
The Clippers shot 54.9 percent from the field, and held Golden State to 41 percent as the Clippers excelled on defense.