By ,
Published January 13, 2015
(SportsNetwork.com) - Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers visited his old stomping grounds and also some former players on this 13-day, seven-game road trip, which comes to an end Saturday against the Washington Wizards.
The Clippers bested the Boston Celtics in Rivers' return to Beantown on Wednesday, but Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett got the best of their old head coach in a 102-93 win for the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Chris Paul had 20 points, Jamal Crawford added 19 and Blake Griffin finished with 12 to go along with 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who are 3-3 on the trip and 7-7 as the visitor. DeAndre Jordan had 12 boards in defeat and Los Angeles shot just 37.1 percent from the field and made 6-of-24 3-pointers.
"I didn't like our movement," Rivers said of the Clippers' offense.
Los Angeles finished 67.3 percent (35-of-52) from the charity stripe, while Brooklyn scored 19 points off 15 L.A. turnovers and erased an early 12-point deficit. The Nets used a 30-13 run in the final 8:54 of the first half.
"We got off to a good start. We have to take the positive out of that," Crawford said. "Don't get too down, don't beat yourself up over it and correct different things we can correct."
L.A. was 8-0 when Paul scores at least 20 points this season and will start a four-game homestand Monday versus San Antonio, New Orleans, Denver and Minnesota.
The Wizards are coming off a tough 101-99 overtime loss in Atlanta on Friday, as Hawks forward Al Horford hit the game-winning jumper off an inbounds pass. The Wizards rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter and were led by Trevor Booker's 24 points and 14 rebounds.
Martell Webster scored 15 points, John Wall added 13 and 11 assists and Marcin Gortat finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who scored 25 of the 40 points in the fourth quarter to force overtime and shot 42 percent.
"I'll give them credit for staying in the fight and having an opportunity to win the game," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "But when you don't play for 42 minutes, you've got to play perfect basketball. ... I just don't think we were ready to play."
Washington, which has dropped three in a row, is back home and owns a 6-4 record in D.C. After Saturday's game the Wizards will head back to the road for four straight against New York, Brooklyn, Boston and Minnesota.
The Wizards hope forward Nene (foot) can return to the court and are already dealing without guard Bradley Beal (leg) and forward Al Harrington (knee). Beal leads the team with 20.6 points per game and Nene is averaging 14.8 ppg.
Washington and Los Angeles will play the first of two meetings this season and are scheduled to meet Jan. 29 at Staples Center. The Wizards and Clippers split a pair of matchups in 2012-13 and L.A. is 8-1 in the past nine encounters between the teams.
The Wizards halted an eight-game slide in this series with a 98-90 victory on Feb. 4 in D.C. The Clippers have lost eight of 12 trips to Washington.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/clippers-close-trek-against-wizards