New York, NY – Jamal Crawford scored 27 points to lead a strong effort by the Clippers' bench as Los Angeles took a 102-88 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Chris Paul added 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Blake Griffin posted 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who won for the second time in three games as their bench outscored the Knicks' reserves, 48-15.
"Their bench has been good for them this year," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought that was the difference in the game."
Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 42 points to go along with eight rebounds for New York, which has dropped two of its last three.
Raymond Felton was the only other member of the Knicks to score in double figures, finishing with 20 points.
New York trailed 52-44 at the half, but followed Paul's opening layup of the third quarter with a 14-4 run to tie the game at 58-58 on Anthony's 3-pointer near the midpoint of the frame.
Crawford put an end to the surge with a jumper, but Anthony answered with a 3- pointer to hand the Knicks their first lead since he opened the game with a shot from beyond the arc.
The Clippers, however, took the lead right back with Crawford's triple at the other end and held a 71-70 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
After Amar'e Stoudemire opened the fourth with a three-point play, Crawford and Eric Bledsoe combined for 13 points during a 19-5 run to put the Clippers on top 90-78 with about five minutes to play.
New York responded with an 8-2 push to get back within 92-86, but Los Angeles scored the next seven points to regain a 13-point cushion with 1:11 remaining and cruised to the victory.
"We did well. I think it was our second unit that really got us going," said Paul. "I think it was a great team win for us."
The Clippers used a strong shooting performance from beyond the arc to take the early lead as they made four of their first five attempts from three- point range to jump out to a 15-9 advantage.
New York responded with an 8-2 push to knot the score at 17-17 before the Clippers netted the final five points of the first quarter.
Los Angeles then carried that momentum into the second quarter, opening the frame with a 8-0 spurt to take a double-digit lead at 30-17.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Jason Kid and J.R. Smith later sparked a 12-4 run to cut New York's deficit to 38-33 with just over four minutes to play in the half, but the Knicks fell behind by as many as 10 and trailed 52-44 at the break.
Game Notes
Clippers starting forward Caron Butler left the game with a sore lower back and did not return ... Los Angeles improved to 16-12 on the road this season ... The Knicks fell to 19-7 at home ... The Clippers have won 11 of the last 17 meetings between the teams ... Los Angeles shot 51.3 percent from the floor, including a 10-for-28 mark from three-point range ... New York connected on 44.6 percent of its shots.
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