Trail Blazers vs. Clippers: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season
The Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in last season's playoffs after Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries. They were at full strength Wednesday at Staples Center, and the result was quite different with a commanding 111-80 victory for Los Angeles.
The Clippers are now an impressive 7-1 on the season and have won three straight games by more than 20 points. Portland dropped to 5-4 and saw its three-game winning streak snapped in the process.
Four of the Clippers starters scored in double figures, and Blake Griffin led the way with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Chris Paul posted 19 points and seven assists, while DeAndre Jordan just missed a double-double of his own with 16 points and nine rebounds.
However, the story was Los Angeles' defense, which held a Trail Blazers team that entered the game third in the league at 110.3 points a night to a mere 80. Portland shot 31-of-88 (35.2 percent) from the field and 6-of-30 (20 percent) from three-point range while also turning it over 14 times.
None of the Trail Blazers starters scored in double figures, and Damian Lillard posted eight points on a mere 1-of-10 shooting. His backcourt mate, C.J. McCollum, wasn't much better at eight points and zero assists on 4-of-11 from the field.
While the guards struggled, Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated pointed out Evan Turner encapsulated Portland's overall performance:
The Clippers set the tone early and thoroughly dominated the first quarter. They jumped out to a quick 25-10 lead and extended it to 36-16 by the start of the second. The starting lineup did much of the work, with Paul dishing out four early assists and Griffin approaching a double-double with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Griffin also reached a career milestone, as the Clippers shared:
Dan Woike of the Orange County Register underscored just how effective Los Angeles was on the offensive end in the opening stretch of the game:
Portland even started intentionally fouling Jordan near the end of the first in an effort to get a stop, but he connected on three of his first four attempts from the charity stripe.
The Trail Blazers responded to Los Angeles' hot start:
The Clippers' second unit got involved in the second quarter, as Marreese Speights, Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers extended the overwhelming advantage to 48-18. A Wesley Johnson basket made it 50-18 and forced Portland to call a timeout with less than eight minutes until halftime.
The two teams played fairly evenly for the rest of the half, and Los Angeles took a 61-32 lead into the locker room. Portland's primary issue was on the offensive end, where it shot an abysmal 1-of-13 from three-point range and 12-of-40 from the field (30.8 percent).
Rowan Kavner of the Clippers' official website noted it was business as usual for the red-hot team:
Things continued to go downhill for Portland, when Los Angeles opened the third quarter with a 17-3 run. Griffin reached his double-double during the stretch, and J.J. Redick cracked double-digit scoring totals with 10 points.
The frontcourt also got involved with some style:
Dan Devine of Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie pointed out Griffin was still hustling despite the fact the game was already well in hand:
Los Angeles' starters checked out with an 87-43 advantage and less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, which turned into a 93-50 lead by the start of the fourth.
The Trail Blazers at least had Jake Layman to hold on to as the game worked toward the inevitable end:
Layman ended up with nine points and helped Portland's bench at least trim in to the deficit throughout the fourth. Los Angeles still won the game in convincing fashion, but the Trail Blazers salvaged a bit of a silver lining from a 30-18 fourth-quarter advantage with the primary contributors resting.
What's Next?
Next up for the Clippers is a two-game road trip against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.
While Minnesota is still a young team building toward the future, the Thunder were 6-1 entering play Wednesday and figure to compete with the Clippers, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs for positioning in the Western Conference playoffs. While it is just one game, head-to-head results could play into eventual tiebreakers.
As for the Trail Blazers, they head back to Moda Center for three straight home games against the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls. Those three teams were a combined 11-12 coming in to play on Wednesday, so Portland has a chance to build early-season momentum in front of the home fans.
Postgame Reaction
CSN Northwest shared Portland coach Terry Stotts' comments after the game:
Jordan talked about the win, per Woike: "Everybody's happy. We want to see each other excel and succeed. When everyone is on the same page like that, it's fun to play basketball that way."
Paul echoed Jordan's sentiments, per Wokie: "We're all having a lot of fun right now. And, a lot of that has to do with our defense."
If Los Angeles continues to play that type of defense as the season progresses, it will be battling for a top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
