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The Morning After: Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick and starters win over the Hornets

By Ryan Snellings

Feb 11, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) shoots a three point shot in the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) shoots a three point shot in the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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During a very memorable Oscars’ night, the Clippers’ starters put on their own show in LA. They defeated the Charlotte Hornets to sweep their 2 game series this season.

Well, what a night to be in LA. At this point, I’m sure you have seen the Oscars’ snafu. The Clippers almost had their own after blowing a 17 point lead and allowing the Hornets to force overtime. Thankfully, J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin and the other three starters all came to play.

Backcourt Tandem

Finally! J.J. Redick was able to find the basket tonight after struggling through much of the month of February. The shooting specialist was able to connect on 9 of 16 shots, including 3 of 7 from three-point range. He finished the game with 22 points. He was so fired up, he even picked up a technical after a questionable foul was called on him. Having Chris Paul back is probably part of the reason J.J. Redick is starting to look like himself. The two just work together. Speaking of whom…

RELATED STORY: J.J. Redick Has Committed to re-signing

Chris Paul started to look more like the CP3 we all love. Although it was a poor shooting night for the Point-God (4 for 18 from the field), he did everything else right.  Paul managed to grab 9 rebounds and drop 17 dimes, all while not committing a turnover. He also made the biggest defensive stop of the game during overtime.

The Frontcourt

DeAndre Jordan also played extremely well. He was 2 for 4 from the stripe when Charlotte enacted the Hack-a-DJ method. The All-Star (isn’t it great to read that?) finished 1 rebound short of a true 20/20 game. He also had 2 blocked shots and his lone assist came to Chris Paul on a nice backdoor cut.

RELATED STORY: The Importance of Blake Griffin’s 3 Point Shot

Now, for the main show. Blake Griffin was, for a lack of a better term, amazing. Blake poured in 43 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and also was able to dish out 5 assists. He could not be stopped. The team just kept feeding him in the post and he went to work. Oh, by the way, he also knocked down a career high 3 three-pointers (3 for 4 shooting). He also had a Top-10 put-back dunk during the game. We really had all aspects of Blake’s game shown to us in this one. Blake Griffin has been playing at an MVP level since he came back from injury and if he can sustain it through the playoffs, expect good things from the Clippers.

The Bench

This section will be short. They were awful. Keeping them in longer than necessary was part of the reason the lead was lost. Doc also elected to play Wesley Johnson over Brandon Bass tonight, for whatever reason. Oh well. Don’t expect the whole bench to be cold together every night. Thankfully the starters carried them to the end.

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