PHOENIX Brandon Knight matched his career high with 37 points, Eric Bledsoe fell an assist shy of his second career triple-double and the Phoenix Suns rolled past the severely depleted Clippers 118-104 on Thursday night.
Advertisement
Griffin scored on a nifty left-handed layup after a move from the left side but was called for a technical foul by Brian Forte as he returned upcourt following the play.
With three of their best four players gone, the Clippers just seemed to deflate.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers pointed to the second technical on Griffin as the game-changer. “Nobody came to see you ref”, according to Los Angeles Times beat writer Ben Bolch. He scored 10 and was responsible for 11 more with four assists, including setting up Knight, Leuer and Markieff Morris on 3-pointers.
Phoenix outscored the Clippers, 9-1, the rest of the half and the rout was on as the Suns built second-half leads as large as 25 points. Bledsoe came close to a quadruple-double, finishing with 26 points (on only 13 FGA), 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 8 turnovers. Bledsoe, who played his first three seasons with the Clippers, also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Their first meeting was at Staples Center where the Clippers won 102-96 behind Griffin’s double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. He played only six minutes, scoring five points.
Griffin put himself in danger of being ejected after officials called offsetting technical fouls on the Clippers forward and the Suns’ Mirza Teletovic midway through the second quarter.
CLIPPERS GUARD AUSTIN RIVERS “We had a bad spirit”.
Bledsoe accounted for 21 of the Suns’ 30 first-quarter points.
NOTES: Clippers G Chris Paul, who has been affected by finger, groin and eye injuries this season, did not start. “He’s just not had a lot of fun so far. When he’s not great, we’re not as good, obviously”. To help you quickly find my advice at the position and price you may need a few help, I’ve separated my DraftKings daily picks for today into a slide for high-salary options and a slide for high-value options at each position. Paul sustained by a fractured left index finger during the team’s preseason work in China…. The Suns broke an eight-game losing streak in the series….
Advertisement
Clippers: Home against Detroit on Saturday. The Los Angeles Clippers are coming off a Wednesday loss to the Mavericks in which they allowed 55.3 percent shooting and allowed 65 second half points.
