Warriors' Winning Streak Clipped In LA
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) -- Chris Paul had 27 points and nine assists, Blake Griffin added 20 points and the Los Angeles Clippers set a franchise record with their 12th straight home victory, 115-89 over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.
The Clippers lead the NBA with a 27-8 record, a half-game ahead of Western Conference rivals Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The Clippers won a club-record 17 straight overall before back-to-back road losses at Denver and Golden State, then beat the Lakers 107-102 on Friday. Their previous best home winning streak was set in 1978-79, their first season in San Diego after the franchise left Buffalo.
DeAndre Jordan added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Clips, who built a 23-point lead through the first quarter and won for the 19th time in 21 games overall.
Coach Vinny Del Negro pulled Griffin and Paul after they built a 96-60 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
Klay Thompson had a team-high 14 points for the Warriors (22-11), who had won 12 of 15 and were trying to match the second-best start in team history behind the 1975-76 squad that won 25 of its first 33. They were 23-10 in 1955-56 and in 1991-92.
Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Clippers busted out of the gate with a 22-6 run while Golden State missed 15 of its first 18 shots. Curry and Lee, the only Warriors averaging 20 or more points, both were 0 for 4 during that stretch.
Matt Barnes stripped the ball from rookie Draymond Green under the basket and hustled the length of the floor to tip in Willie Green's missed layup just before the first-quarter buzzer, giving Los Angeles a 35-12 cushion. It was the lowest-scoring opening period for the Warriors.
The Clippers extended the margin to 67-43 at halftime, shooting 61.4 percent from the field and outrebounding the Warriors 24-12. Eric Bledsoe provided the exclamation point at the end of the second quarter when he blocked a driving layup by Jarrett Jack just before the buzzer. The 6-foot-1 point guard has 24 blocked shots in the team's first 35 games and 63 in 156 regular-season games contests.
Shooting guard Jamal Crawford, who leads the Clippers' reserves with 16.5 points per game, missed his second straight contest because of a sore left foot. The 13-year veteran, who signed as a free agent in July, tops all reserves in the league with 14 games of 20 or more points — including the 27 he scored against the Warriors in a 114-110 loss on Nov. 3, and the 24 he had against them in Wednesday's 115-94 defeat at Oakland.
NOTES: The Clippers have beaten the Warriors at least once in each of the last 26 seasons, their longest such streak against any team. ... Lee was called for a flagrant 1 foul with 2:38 left in the second quarter when he got his hands on Griffin's torso as he went up for an alley-oop lob from Eric Bledsoe. Griffin missed the shot and landed on his feet. ... Paul, who played 28 minutes without a turnover, came in second in the league with a 4.28 assist-to-turnover ratio. ... This was Paul's seventh straight 20-point game against the Warriors. The only teams he's had longer streaks against were Phoenix (11) and Dallas (10). ... The Clippers have won 29 of their last 33 regular-season games at Staples Center, including a designated "road" win against the Lakers on Nov. 2. ... This was the only time the Warriors had back-to-back games against the same team on their 2012-13 schedule. Their next game is on Wednesday, when they host Memphis and will attempt to end a streak of seven straight losses to the Grizzlies. ... After concluding this four-game homestand against Dallas and Orlando, the Clippers will play 14 of their next 17 on the road. ... The Clippers are 23-0 when leading after three quarters, and 11-1 when shooting 50 percent or better. They finished at 52.2 percent against the Warriors. ... When Crawford broke the Clippers' franchise record of consecutive free throws made with 58, the player who held the previous mark was current Warriors coach Mark Jackson.
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