Clippers Top Trail Blazers, 74-71
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Los Angeles Clippers/NBA(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Down by as many as 18 points during the second half on Thursday night, the Clippers found a way to turn their bad play around and beat the Trail Blazers (16-15) on the road, 74-71.
Chris Paul, who was scoreless through three quarters, got it going in the fourth with 13 points. Blake Griffin added 21 and Los Angeles (19-9) escaped the Rose Garden with a victory.
“I’ve had bad games before, so I didn’t care,” Paul said. “If we would have lost, I would have beat myself up. The fourth quarter is when it all matters.”
“He said, ‘Man, I just need to see it go in,'” Griffin said of Paul’s play through three quarters of basketball. “I noticed he shot a little jumper after the whistle, and I thought to myself, ‘I hope that was the one he needed.’ Then, he hit a little jump shot, and it was rollin’ from there. He can do that.”
Jamal Crawford who scored 19 points for Portland said after the game that his team absolutely collapsed in the fourth quarter.
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