Griffin leads Clippers past Bobcats
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Blake Griffin had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Randy Foye added 21 points in his third straight start for the injured Eric Gordon and the Los Angeles Clippers extended their home winning streak to eight with a 103-88 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.
The Clippers matched the 1992-93 squad for the longest home winning streak since the franchise moved from San Diego to Los Angeles for the 1984-85 season. Griffin had his 38th double-double of the season and 32nd in 33 games, shooting 11 for 23 in 41 minutes. Center DeAndre Jordan had just four points and four rebounds in 26 minutes after getting into early foul trouble.
The Clippers are 8-5 in January with one game remaining, and have clinched their first winning month since November 2009 (8-6). They won for the first time in three games since Gordon, their leading scorer, chipped a bone in his right wrist a week ago in a 113-109 victory over Golden State. The injury is expected to sideline him for about a month.
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Stephen Jackson and reserve Gerald Henderson each scored 14 points for Charlotte. The Bobcats are tied with Philadelphia for seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, a half-game ahead of Milwaukee.
Griffin led Los Angeles to a 57-42 halftime lead with 19 points and eight rebounds, offsetting 14 points by Jackson. The Clippers missed their first five shots from 3-point range before Foye and Ryan Gomes connected 30 seconds apart during a 16-2 run that extended a two-point lead to 52-36 with 2:55 left in the half.
The Clippers, who were 11 for 29 on 3-pointers, got two from Gomes and one from Foye at the end of a 16-5 run that opened up a 76-51 lead with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
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Coach Vinny Del Negro had all of his starters on the bench at the start of the fourth with a 23-point cushion, and the Bobcats used that opportunity to go on a 12-0 run that sliced it to 83-72 with 7:38 remaining. The last basket came when Clippers Jordan accidentally tipped the ball into the wrong basket after a missed layup by Kwame Brown.
But the Bobcats got no closer, as Baron Davis scored eight of his 12 points during a 1:19 span to help seal the Clippers' eighth victory in 12 games. Griffin tried to put an exclamation point on the win, but clanged a dunk with 4:31 to play after getting an alley-oop feed from Davis.
NOTES: The victory was Del Negro's 100th as an NBA coach in the regular season, including 82 with Chicago. ... Charlotte G and former Clipper Shaun Livingston, whose NBA career appeared to be over after he tore three knee ligaments and dislocated his kneecap in a Clippers victory over the Bobcats on Feb. 26, 2007, has come off the bench in all 46 games and is averaging 17 minutes and 5.3 points. ... Livingston had six points and two assists in 22 minutes. He was the fourth overall pick by the Clippers in the 2004 draft. ... This was the 16th time Griffin has missed 10 or more field goal attempts. The Clippers are 4-12 in those games, and 7-8 when he makes 10 or more shots. ... Charlotte is 11-7 since Paul Silas replaced Larry Brown. Silas' first NBA head coaching job was with the San Diego Clippers, who were 78-168 during his three seasons with the club. ... Because of the injuries to Gordon, Chris Kaman (left ankle) and Craig Smith (back), there were only three players on the Clippers' active roster for this game who suited up the last time they hosted the Bobcats on Feb. 22 and beat them 98-94 — Jordan, Baron Davis and Rasual Butler. ... Jordan and Griffin have made a combined 188 dunks, the most by any set of teammates.
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(This version CORRECTS Clippers 103, Bobcats 88. Corrects to 1984-85 in second paragraph.)