Clippers rout Bobcats; Sixers bounce back
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| Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul (C) works to shoot the ball against the Charlotte Bobcats during their NBA basketball game in Charlotte, North Carolina February 11, 2012. Both teams, the Los Angeles Stars and Carolina Cougars, are wearing retro uniforms for the game. Photo by Chris Keane, Reuters. |
MANILA, Philippines -- The Los Angeles Clippers used a balanced scoring effort to rout the league-worst Charlotte Bobcats, 111-86, while the Philadelphia 76ers bounced back to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-84.
Blake Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 12 boards, and Chris Paul had 18 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who were never threatened by the Bobcats.
The Clippers led by as much as 34 points and shot 52.6% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bobcats made only 35% from the field and made only one of their 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
"It was great. We were able to control the tempo of the game and get easy baskets off of transition thanks to our defense," Clippers head coach Vinny del Negro told NBA.com.
None of the Clippers starters played more than 31 minutes as the game was well in hand by the end of the third quarter. Paul and Griffin did return for a brief period in the fourth quarter when the Bobcats trimmed the lead to 22 points.
"I wanted to bench guys to get more minutes, but when they're going to make a run like that, I'm just going to control the game a little bit and get us back on our feet a little bit," Del Negro said.
Meanwhile, the Sixers snapped a two-game losing streak in their rout of the Cavaliers, who were missing three starters in Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao and Anthony Parker.
Jrue Holiday had 20 points, Lou Williams came off the bench to fire 19 points and the Sixers held the Cavs to 37% field goal shooting.
"Their guys all played hard, but we just imposed our will a little bit more tonight," Sixers forward Thaddeus Young said. "We wanted to get into the paint against them and make them attempt jump shots because of the guys they were missing."
Cavs coach Byron Scott said he expected his team to lack energy.
"I told them I understand, but it doesn't take away from the fact we need to compete at a high level like we're capable of doing," he added.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets held on in the endgame to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 113-109. Ty Lawson led all scorers with 27 points, while Arron Afflalo scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth period.
Danny Granger had 26 points for the Pacers, who have now lost three straight games.
The San Antonio Spurs routed the New Jersey Nets, 103-89. Gary Neal had 18 points, while Tim Duncan had 13 points and 10 boards.


