New Orleans, LA – Blake Griffin scored 19 points and led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 105-91 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday.
Chris Paul had 16 points and nine assists while Caron Butler and Jamal Crawford scored 13 points apiece for the Clippers, who have won three of their last four games.
"Everyone has got to step up," said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. "Last night, we weren't able to capitalize on some of our shots that we usually can make. Tonight we were able to do that. We had some good execution. We were able to spread them out a little bit. They (the Hornets) played very hard. They have been playing very well. This is a good win for us."
Eric Gordon had a game-high 24 points for the Hornets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Anthony Davis recorded 19 points and nine rebounds and Robin Lopez had 13 points and eight rebounds in the setback.
"I thought the third quarter was the only time tonight when we played Hornets basketball," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "Outside of that we were spotty at best, so it's not a step back for us. I just thought that we kind of lost the identity that we had consistently throughout tonight's game. Make no mistake about it; we just played a playoff team that really knows how to play. I thought they pushed us around a little bit tonight."
After the first quarter, the Clippers led 27-26, but the Hornets opened up the second with an 11-3 run, capped with two triples by Brian Roberts, and New Orleans had a 37-30 lead with 8:23 to play.
However, Los Angeles outscored New Orleans 26-11 in the final 4:26 of the period and had a 56-48 advantage at halftime. Chauncey Billups made three 3- pointers during the frame, including one at the buzzer.
The Clippers extended their lead by as much as 11 points, 61-50, with 9:44 remaining in the third.
Afterwards, the Hornets came back on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 63-60, with 6:50 left.
With 3:46 to play, a jumper by Davis brought New Orleans within one, 70-69, but it was as close as the Hornets would get.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Clippers had a 79-77 edge.
Los Angeles opened up the period with a 10-2 run to give them an 89-79 lead with 9:18 left and the Clippers never looked back.
The Hornets had difficulty shooting in the period, scoring just 14 points.
The Clippers finished the game with a 7-0 spurt, capped with a 3-pointer by Matt Barnes.
Game Notes
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had 11 rebounds ... The Clippers made 17-of-18 free throw attempts through the first three quarters ... Los Angeles shot 13- of-29 from beyond the arc, while New Orleans was just 4-of-14 ... The Clippers lead the season-series 2-1. They play one more time on April 12, in New Orleans ... If the Clippers win, they would win the season-series for the second straight season.
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