LOS ANGELES (AP)—One night after Staples Center hosted its first
triple-overtime matchup in the arena’s 12-year history, the Clippers and
Washington Wizards apparently caught the bug.
Blake Griffin(notes) posted his first career triple-double and Eric Gordon(notes) scored
32 points to help the Clippers beat the Wizards 127-119 in double OT on
Wednesday night.
“It means a lot, but the best part about it was getting the win,” Griffin
said after finishing with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in a career-high
51 1/2 minutes.
“It’s always great to keep your teammates involved and keep them going, but
you also have to give credit to these guys for hitting shots. It was pretty
draining. We just needed to tough it out.”
As a footnote to his first triple-double, Griffin also got his 55th
double-double—tying the Clippers’ single-season record that Elton Brand(notes) set in
2001-02.
Mo Williams(notes) added 17 points and 10 assists after getting only two points
through the first three quarters, and Randy Foye(notes) hit a clinching 3-pointer in
the final minute.
“We showed some pretty good resiliency in the way we gutted it out and made
some plays down the stretch,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Nothing is easy in
this league, and we battled through it.”
Chris Kaman(notes), starting in place of the injured DeAndre Jordan(notes), had 18 points
and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who won their first overtime game this season
in five tries.
But it shouldn’t have come to those extra 10 minutes. Los Angeles committed
25 turnovers, which the Wizards converted into 31 points.
“It was our carelessness,” said Gordon, who had all five of his turnovers
in the first overtime period. “We probably just moved a little too fast and
that gave us fewer opportunities to score.”
Wizards guard John Wall(notes) tied it at 102 with a running floater over the
outstretched arm of the 7-foot Kaman with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter,
and Griffin missed a 3-point attempt at the other end with a second on the
clock.
Gordon sent it into a second OT for the Clippers with a 3-pointer out of a
timeout with 1.9 seconds left in the first overtime.
Wall led Washington with 32 points and 10 assists, and Jordan Crawford(notes) had
25 points on 10-for-28 shooting after missing his first seven shots. JaVale
McGee(notes) added 22 points and 13 rebounds.
“It’s tough to lose this game. We did everything we had to do,” Wall said.
“We fought hard, but down the stretch I missed a free throw that could have put
us up by four and they just got the stops they needed. We didn’t close it out.”
Washington is 1-33 on the road—the only victory coming against
league-worst Cleveland on Feb. 13. The Wizards have seven chances left to avoid
tying the worst road record for a regulation season in NBA history, set by the
1-40 Sacramento Kings in 1990-91.
“They’re hurting in there, and they should be,” coach Flip Saunders said.
“You get beat by 34 last night in Portland, you have a back-to-back, you get in
late, and our guys still came out and competed. We played a lot of young guys,
and our backcourt found a way to keep us in the game.”
In a matchup of the No. 1 overall picks from the 2009 and 2010 drafts—and
the top two scorers this season among rookies—Griffin made 14 of 19 shots and
Wall was 12 of 26. Wall’s only triple-double was on Nov. 10 against Houston.
The Wizards trailed by as many as 12 points after one quarter and didn’t
take their first lead until Crawford’s 3-pointer put them ahead 69-68 with 3:01
left in the third.
Notes: Jordan missed his second straight game with pneumonia. … The
Clippers have to go no worse than 6-5 the rest of the way to avoid reaching the
50-loss mark for the fourth straight season and 22nd time in the past 30 years,
including their final three in San Diego. … Eight rookies played in the game,
five for Washington. … The Wizards have lost the last 13 games in which they
allowed 30 or more points by an opposing player. … Griffin came within one
assist of a triple-double on March 5 against Denver, and was within two assists
on two other occasions.
See the original article here:
Griffin posts triple-double in 2OT win (AP)