Clippers notch first blowout win at home in dominating Minnesota
The Clippers had a new trick up their sleeves for their home crowd on Monday - a dismantling of a team they were expected to beat and beat handily.
That was a first this season.
The Clippers started slow Monday, having returned from a successful 12-day, seven-game roadtrip, but found their groove quickly in a 127-101 blasting of four-win Minnesota to improve their win streak to five games.
Finally, that killer instinct.
Finally, a party that was so complete Matt Barnes' son, Carter, was sitting on his lap at the end of the bench for the last few minutes of the game. So fun that Doc Rivers had a mini conversation with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski -- sitting courtside behind the scorer's table at Staples Center.
The Clippers had countless dunks and made 44.1 percent of their 3-pointers and outrebounded Minnesota, 41-26. They were better in every which way.
Locker room with @deandrejordan http://t.co/HfiyAQXxVo
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) December 2, 2014
They were so fun to watch and their celebrity fan contingent is growing. Justin Bieber, Gronkowski and several Patriots teammates were all in the locker room hanging out with players afterward.
Defensively, they held Minnesota to 16.7 percent from 3-point range (2 for 12).
Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick each scored 23 points, Spencer Hawes had 14 points off the bench and 12 of the 13 Clippers players who got in the game scored. Ekpe Udoh even made his first basket of the season.
The Clippers, now 5-3 at home, have seemingly found their way and are rolling and it all started on the road.
.@patriots tight end @robgronkowski and teammates having fun in @laclippers locker room. Gronkowski got a https://t.co/2yiA8k0SfM
— Jill Painter Lopez (@jillpainter) December 2, 2014
"It helped a lot. Obviously coming back after a long roadtrip, the first game is probably the toughest," Jamal Crawford said. "It was just another business game for us. I think we're having fun again, and we know what to do every single night."
Redick was on again. He made his first three 3-pointers and 7 of 11 shots from the field. Chris Paul added 11 points and 13 assists and DeAndre Jordan 11 points and 13 rebounds.
"... We talked during halftime how we needed to come out with a great start in the third and not let them hang around," Redick said. "That was the danger, letting them hang around."
The Clippers had done that plenty this season, especially at home, but not this time. Not with a win streak and not on the heels of a 6-1 roadtrip.
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Rivers wasn't so much happy about blowing out Minnesota as he was about the win.
"For whatever reason this year, it seems we've been judged on style points," Doc Rivers said. "If we win by 30, it's something. The way I'm looking at us, is I just want to keep getting better. Today was good. If we had to pinpoint why, we're better than we were earlier in the year. We're going to keep getting better.
"I just think our offense is so much better. I think we scored 9-10 more points per game on this roadtrip. I still go back to that we were missing open shots and we're making shots now."
