Clippers get Easter chocolates, clinch playoff berth
- Updated: March 28, 2016
The Los Angeles Clippers ensured their fans would have a happy Easter as they chalked up win number 45 for the season, enough to clinch a playoff berth with 10 games to go. Following news that Blake Griffin was cleared to return – following his suspension – the day couldn’t have gone much better for the L.A. outfit.
The Clippers jumped out of the blocks with a 9-0 run forcing Mike Malone to take a timeout after just two minutes of play. The Nuggets hadn’t played a day game since Super Bowl Sunday and their shooting was in shoot around mode, starting out 4-16 from the field as the Clippers held most of the momentum throughout the first quarter.
D.J. Augustin entered for the Nuggets and changed the game immediately, knocking down his first three looks, all from behind the arc as the Denver bench – who scored 72 points versus the Lakers on Saturday – cut the Clippers lead to five after 12 minutes of play.
The offense of both benches was shaky throughout the early stages of the second quarter and despite the Clippers being able to maintain their slight advantage on the scoreboard, Denver bigs Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne began to take control of the offensive glass, a plan that led to Denver leaving Los Angeles with the win on February 24.
DeAndre Jordan filled the stat sheet in the opening 24 minutes while Chris Paul and J.J. Redick also continued to fill the void in Blake Griffin’s absence – whose four game suspension commenced today – as the Clippers led by 54-48 at halftime.
The Clippers raced out of halftime similar to the way they did to begin the game, jumping the Nuggets on a 15-6 run en route to a 67-54 lead as Jordan and Paul took over.
Jordan was everywhere defensively, keeping the statisticians busy with four blocks in the first 4:45 of the third quarter including a sequence with blocks on back to back possessions before Paul found him for the lob on the other end.
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As Denver’s offense became increasingly wary of Jordan in the paint, the Clippers continued to stretch their lead, ending the third quarter with a 77-60 lead.
The Clippers starters would have the luxury of sitting out the final 12 minutes as the bench did the job and held off Denver to register a 105-90 win.
DeAndre Jordan had a monster game with 16 points on 7-10 shooting, 16 rebounds (7 offensive) two assists, two steals and six blocks in just 29 minutes as he and Paul (14 points, six rebounds, nine assists) did what they’ve done so often and guided the Clippers to another win. The win, the Clippers 45th of the season, ensured the Clippers would clinch a playoff berth for a fifth straight season.
Paul and Jordan aside, Redick had a quieter night by his standards, registering 12 points on 4-12 (2-7 3FG) shooting while Wesley Johnson and Jeff Green had 13 points apiece off the bench as they combined for a further 10 rebounds and five steals. The pair contributed immensely as the Clippers had a season high for blocks (11) and coupled that with 13 steals in a productive night on the defensive end.
For Denver, Emmanuel Mudiay, who has averaged just a tick under 17 points per game during the month of March was totally outclassed by Paul as he was held to four points on 2-15 shooting while Augustin’s hot start failed to eventuate too much as he shot just 2-10 after his 3-3 start to finish with 18 points and 10 assists off the bench.
The Clippers are back at Staples Center tomorrow night as they face a tough Boston outfit who are battling it out for home court in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will have to be at their best to avoid a season sweep to the young and fun Celtics team!
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