A day after Stephen Curry pulled a SportsCenter worthy ankle-breaker on Chris Paul, the All-Star point guard responded with his best game of the season as he lead the Clippers to a 126-122 victory over the Portland Trailblazers.
More from LA Sports Hub
- Lakers: 5 Players to Target Through Trades to make another championship run
- LA Chargers: Week 8 against Denver Broncos is a must-win
- LA Rams: Jared Goff wants to keep the Los Angeles title streak going
- Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers interested in Rajon Rondo
- LA Chargers: Justin Herbert wins AFC Rookie of the Month
Chris Paul had a season-high 41 points and 17 assists a night after the Clippers lost to California rival Golden State Warriors in a nationally televised game. After the tough loss at home, the Clippers may have been weary as they fell behind by as much as 19 points in the first half. At the end of the third quarter, the Portland Trailblazers’ Chis Kaman shoved Paul under the basket in a scramble for the rebound. Paul began to engage Kaman however the referees quickly dissolved the issue. After reviewing the play, Kaman was charged with a flagrant foul. The sequence ignited Paul into the next gear as he went on to score 14 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter. Said Doc Rivers after the game:
"“It didn’t hurt but CP already had it going before that, to be honest. That just brought more energy into the game. When you’re lacking energy, you’re just looking for anything. Little plays like that can help you, or they can do you in, too. You never know how that’s going to go. I was happy how we responded after that.”"
The Clippers went from an 11 point deficit to an 11 point lead following the play. The Trailblazers were not content to give away the game at home with playoff implications on the line as they worked away at the Clippers lead to bring the game to come within three points at 122-119 with 19 seconds left. After two made free throws from Paul, Blazers C.J. McCollum made a three-pointer to cut the Clippers lead to two with 5.4 left to play. The Blazers fouled Paul who made both free-throws to clinch the game.
More from Los Angeles Clippers
- LA Clippers: Ty Lue promoted to head coach
- Los Angeles Clippers: Doc Rivers shockingly out as head coach
- LA Clippers: Where does the team go from here?
- LA Clippers: 2019-20 Season has been a huge failure
- LA Clippers: The hype was real but the execution wasn’t
Despite his inspired play after the foul, Paul stated that he wasn’t affected much by it. “It gave me a chance to get to the free throw line and get a little bit of a rhythm. I think it was just a gutsy win.”
The rest of the roster aided Paul as J.J. Reddick also had 25 points, including five three-pointers. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Trailblazers with 29 points while Damian Lillard provided 18 points and 10 assists.
The game was important for both teams as they sit at the fourth and fifth seeds in the stacked Western Conference. If both teams remain in their respective seeds in the standings then the Clippers will face the Trailblazers in the first round with Portland having home-court advantage. The resilient victory undoubtedly gives the Clippers a big morale boost as the regular season winds down. Blazer head coach Terry Stotts expressed his frustration after the game “Look, you hate losing games. You hate losing at home and you hate losing to a team that you might see in the playoffs. There’s a lot of things not to be happy about tonight.”
The game also comes a day after the Clippers’ Griffin made comments that he felt the Clippers do not possess home-court advantage against opposing teams at the Staples Center. Whether it will be a factor during the playoffs will be determined later this month however a road-win for the Clippers is important at this late stage against a Conference power like the Trailblazers.