LOS ANGELES—It wasn’t a pretty game three quarters in, but a big fourth quarter gave the Los Angeles Clippers the 94-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Blake Griffin scored eight of his 22 points and grabbed eight of his 16 rebounds in the fourth quarter. His 56th double-double of the season made him the franchise record holder for most double-doubles in a single season.
“I’ve said all along that double-doubles are cool, but wins are what we’re all going for,” said Griffin. “If you’re getting stats, it doesn’t mean a whole lot if you’re not getting the wins to go along with it, but it’s definitely an honor and humbling.”
Toronto saw a 10-point lead evaporate, as Los Angeles was able to limit the Raptors to 17 points in the final 12 minutes of regulation. The Clippers also limited the Raptors to just 39 percent shooting on the evening.
“It was our defense,” said Griffin. “We got stops. We went out in transition and in the half court setting, we made plays.”
Both offenses were stagnant in the opening quarter, each shooting just 35 percent. The Clippers scored seven more points in the second quarter, but found themselves down a point by halftime.
In the third quarter, Jose Calderon scored eight of his 16 points to help put the Raptors up by seven before the final quarter. The Raptors’ lead reached 10 in the fourth quarter, but a 9-0 Clippers run capped off by a Griffin jam gave them the lead at the 4:31 mark.
Eric Gordon found the rim on a three-point basket, the only three-point basket for the team the whole game, at the one-minute mark, which put the Clippers up four. He also made a key steal on Leandro Barbosa that took 28 more seconds off the clock before the Raptors scored on the other end to get to within two.
“Anytime you get a spark going, it’s always good to win on a defensive play,” said Gordon, who finished with 17 points. “I knew they were going to go to Barbosa and it was good to get the steal.”
Mo Williams was fouled on the ensuing possession and buried a pair of free throws to end the game.
Raptors center Andrea Bargnani was out nursing a sore right ankle and Chris Kaman took advantage—he scored 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Randy Foye came off the Clippers’ bench and scored 14.
Raptors rookie Ed Davis scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Barbosa provided 14 points off the Raptors bench.
“We had to gut that one out a little bit,” said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. “The energy early wasn’t great, we let them get some confidence early on with their dribble penetration. Barbosa hurt us in the first half. Ed Davis again not only hurt us scoring, but rebounding. But, we found a way at the end.”
The Clippers were hampered by 18 turnovers, but outrebounded the Raptors 51-40. Both teams were dismal from the three-point line—27 percent for Toronto and of course, 11 percent for the Clippers on Gordon’s sole three-ball.
“Again, turnovers were an issue for us, but we did a good job on the glass” said Del Negro. “We just didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, especially from behind the arc. But, after a back-to-back, we’ll take it. There are no easy games, especially for us. But, we found a way to win and that is the bottom line.”
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