Clippers Overpower Sixers 101-72
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Paul scored 19 points, Caron Butler added 14 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-72 on Wednesday, bouncing back on the second night of back-to-back games.
Paul also had nine assists and six rebounds while Blake Griffin had a relatively quiet showing with seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. The Clippers were without Chauncey Billups and Eric Bledsoe, who were sidelined by injuries.
Los Angeles improved to 27-8 at home after losing four of its previous seven, including a night earlier at Sacramento. The Clippers won three in a row against Philadelphia for the first time since 2006-07.
Spencer Hawes had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the 76ers, who have dropped 14 in a row on the road, where they are 6-24 this season. Thaddeus Young added 13 points and Evan Turner finished with 12.
Philadelphia shot 36.7 percent and never led after the first quarter.
The Clippers dominated after halftime, building a 66-46 lead midway through the third. Paul, Butler and Willie Green scored six points apiece in a 20-10 run that opened the quarter. Griffin set up DeAndre Jordan for an alley-oop dunk in the spurt.
The 76ers answered with 10 straight points of their own, but couldn't erase their double-digit deficit.
The Clippers' starters got plenty of rest in the fourth, watching the reserves stretch the lead to 89-62 on a dunk by Ryan Hollins as the sellout crowd of 19,187 began hitting the exits.
The Clippers turned an eight-point deficit in the first quarter into a 10-point lead by halftime. They scored the first eight points of the second quarter, and Maalik Wayns and Jamal Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers later in the period. Griffin made his first basket of the game late in the second, helping the Clippers outscore the 76ers 10-3 to end the half ahead 46-36.
Crawford finished with 12 points and Hollins had 10.
Los Angeles missed its first five shots and trailed by eight in the first, when neither team shot better than 36 percent.
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