LA Clippers keep building momentum with win over helpless Nets

The LA Clippers stormed out to an early 30-point lead and crushed the Brooklyn Nets 127-95, adding to their momentum with seven straight wins and a 10-1 record.

Chris Paul tallied 21 points, nine dimes, and five steals to lead the LA Clippers to a strong showing against the Brooklyn Nets, extending their win streak to seven and upping their record to 10-1 for the season after winning by 32 points. The starters got out to an overpowering lead after barely five minutes, and the bench would not surrender it.

The Nets took the first lead at 2-0, and on the very next possession Blake Griffin tied it at 2-2. That would be the last time the game was tied and the last time the Nets led, and the Clippers followed up by going on a 21-3 run. The starters went to the bench with three minutes left in the quarter with the score at 35-7 in their favor. The defense was dialed in and just about everything the Nets put up resulted in a rebound and transition play for the Clippers.

The Nets just couldn’t find their way around the Clippers to good looks, often forcing passes which were easily picked off by the Clippers’ aggressive off-ball play or stripped by guys like Paul. Brooklyn coughed up the ball 21 times (17 steals for L.A.) and gave up 35 points to the Clippers off their turnovers.

Griffin added 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists just under 26 minutes of play. Luc Mbah A Moute was perfect from the field with 5-of-5 shooting. The best defensive player in the league, according to Doc Rivers, could not miss.

DeAndre Jordan had seven points, 14 rebounds and an emphatic dunk on Justin Hamilton. J.J. Reddick has 18 points in 23 minutes, as no starter played more than 26.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 18 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 14.

The Nets went on a 10-0 run in the second to ‘narrow’ the lead to 16 points. That was as close as they got for the rest of the night. L.A. closed out the half up 71-47.

Clippers shot 53 percent from the field and 56 percent from deep, making 14 threes. They also won the rebound battle 43-37.

Blake and DeAndre get the crowd off their feet

Leading in the third, Griffin and Jordan had monster dunks back to back. Griffin would have a clear path with the assist from Reddick, while Jordan had a poster dunk on Hamilton after a nifty dime from Paul.

Bench scoring

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The bench had the odd mental lapse in the second quarter, having a little trouble with transition defense at times, but it was never nearly enough to let the Nets get in the game. Jamal Crawford is averaging 10.6 points for the season and dropped 18 points (5-of-10 shooting) with a four-point play just for fun. Raymond Felton added 11 points and kept the ball moving as he has all season.

The Clippers’ starters left with about three minutes left in the third quarter and sat for the whole of the fourth. The lead would reach as much as 40 in the middle of the fourth.

Notes

Brook Lopez (rest) and Jeremy Lin (hamstring) didn’t play, making this game feel even more unfair.

Clippers rookie Diamond Stone scored the first points of his career, sending the starters into a loud cheer from the bench.

Next: Luc Mbah a Moute has really stepped up this year

The LA Clippers have a rematch with the Grizzlies when they visit L.A. on Wednesday. The Grizzlies are only 5-5, but always play with grit and have a long, physical history against the Clips.