LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Clippers avenged a Christmas Day loss with a 113-97 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday’s rematch at Staples Center arena. The Lakers beat the under-manned Clippers 111-102 three weeks ago as injuries forced Chris Paul, JJ Redick and Blake Griffin to watch from the sidelines. It was one of just two wins the Lakers had in the month of December and it halted the Clippers’ 11-game win streak. The lowly Lakers have gone 3-4 in January after losing 14 or 16 games in December.
The Clippers dominated in every facet in the return engagement as Paul has returned to the lineup and JJ Redick is back at full strength after suffering a hamstring injury in the Laker contest. Griffin is still out with another in a long list of injuries but the Clippers have shown they can have success without him in the lineup. The Clippers, who improved to 28-14 on the season, got off to a quick start Saturday. The Clippers re-asserted their dominance by going on an 11-0 run late in the first quarter and built a 19-point lead 58-39 at halftime.
Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan had a double-double by halftime (12 points and 10 rebounds) on his way to finishing with a game-high 24 points and 21 rebounds. After a slow shooting start, Paul tallied 20 points and 13 assists for the Clippers. Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton finished with 15 points each for the Clippers who stretched their January win streak to six games. Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to outscore all the starters and lead the Lakers with 21 points. — AFP
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