INDIANAPOLIS – The Los Angeles Clippers took advantage of Roy Hibbert’s suspension Thursday night.
Between Blake Griffin’s dunks and Chris Paul’s drives, the Clippers’ stars dominated the middle, forced Indiana into an uncharacteristically sloppy game and beat the Pacers at their own physical game inside, too.
It was the perfect recipe for getting past one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
Paul scored 29 points, one short of his season high, and Griffin finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds as the Clippers held off Indiana’s frenetic late charge for a 99-91 victory.
“I watch the Pacers a lot. (David) West is like my brother, and they have been beating teams real bad lately, especially here at home,” Paul said. “So I think this is a good win for us. I think every night we are going into different arenas and the other team knows they are in for a dogfight. I think we’re becoming like a San Antonio or a Miami or any of the other top teams.”
On paper, it looked like any other night for the Clippers (42-18).
They dominated in the paint, outscoring Indiana 50-32. Griffin finished with at least 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists in his eighth straight game and, of course, added a couple of more dunks to his highlight reel.
Paul, second in the league in assists per game, had eight more on a night he went 11 of 18 from the field, 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and grabbed six rebounds. And Jamal Crawford scored 23 points in 27 minutes off the bench.
Los Angeles won its third straight and this time beat one of the NBA’s best home teams on its own court.
But from the looks of it, it was a tough night, too.
Trey Thompkins sat out with a bruised left knee. Grant Hill kept an ice pack on his sore lower back all night and never made it into the game.
Eric Bledsoe played just 13 minutes, icing his sore left calf most of the night, and Matt Barnes had ice packs on both his knees when he wasn’t playing, too.
And that list didn’t even count two starters who got dinged during the game — center DeAndre Jordan, who left early in the third quarter with a bloody nose, and Griffin, who briefly pulled his shooting sleeve down so trainers could check his right elbow after he was fouled in the third quarter and crashed hard to the floor.
“It’s not great,” said Griffin, who has been dealing with a bursa sac problem in the elbow. “I got it drained a couple weeks ago, right after the All-Star break, so I’m sure it will puff right back up.”
Whether it was because the Pacers were without Hibbert or it was just an off night, Indiana didn’t look anything like the team that had won five straight by an average margin of 23.8 points.
Instead, the Pacers (36-22) held the lead just four times all night — never by more than two points — and couldn’t keep the lead for more than one possession.
David West finished with 22 points and six rebounds, All-Star Paul George had 20 points and five assists and Danny Granger played his best game since returning from a left knee injury last weekend. Granger finished with a season-high 12 points in 19 minutes on 5-of-10 shooting.
Bulls 93, 76ers 82
In Chicago, Joakim Noah had 23 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 11 blocks for his third career triple-double as the Bulls ran past Philadelphia.
Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng had 15 and 12 points, respectively, as Chicago completed a three-game regular-season series sweep.
Noah tied the Bulls record for blocks in a regulation game, previously set by Artis Gilmore in 1977.
Jrue Holiday paced the Sixers with 22 points, Spencer Hawes added 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Evan Turner had 12 points.
The loss was Philadelphia’s season-high seventh in a row.
Lakers 116, Timberwolves 94
In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 33 points and Antawn Jamison added 17 in the Lakers’ 21st consecutive victory over Minnesota.
Los Angeles (29-30) has won 12 of 17 and five of seven while moving within two games of Houston for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
J.J. Barea scored 20 points to lead the Timberwolves.
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