Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 111-94 victory over Denver

Few teams have been as happy to be .500 recently as the Clippers, who climbed back to the break-even mark with a 111-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets that snapped their three-game losing streak. Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. The Clippers looked more like themselves. The team’s Big Three came up big on the same night, with Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan each registering a double-double. All five starters scored in double figures. The Clippers weren’t sloppy, committing a season-low seven turnovers. They performed at their tempo and did well on defense for a change. “I think we played with the right spirit, played with the right pace,” said Paul, who had 15 points and 10 assists. “We defended.” Paul paused before posing a question. “Did we win the rebounding [battle]?” he asked. Informed the Clippers were outrebounded, 48-43, he continued. “We still didn’t,” he said. “Well, we tried to get on the boards a little bit more.”

2. Griffin’s three-pointer midway through the third quarter was insane. Wesley Johnson probably should have shot the ball rather than pass to Griffin with the shot clock about to expire, but Griffin grabbed the ball while jumping in midair and heaved a shot that somehow went into the basket. “What was crazy was Blake had missed two shots and he had passed up two,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “So we had just come out of the timeout and said, ‘Blake, you’ve got to take your shots,’ and then that happens and he starts laughing. I think just him laughing, the next thing you know he makes the next three [shots], so confidence is an amazing thing.” Griffin’s shot sparked the Clippers to a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter and they were never seriously challenged again.

3. Johnson may be the team’s best option at starting small forward. His numbers — 11 points, two rebounds, one assist and one block — were solid if unspectacular, but it was Johnson’s energy in his first start of the season that gave the Clippers the biggest lift. Rivers said he may have stunted Johnson’s development by starting him too early in the preseason at a time when he wasn’t fully integrated into the team’s philosophies, but he seemed to be in the flow of everything Tuesday. “Wes is a great player,” Paul said, “and I think sometimes we have more confidence in him than he has in himself.” Rivers would not commit to Johnson as a permanent starter with Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson and Luc Mbah a Moute also around as options but acknowledged he was pleased with the effort Johnson gave. “I think we all kind of agreed he would be a great fit for us just because Paul might not play big minutes every game,” Griffin said, “so he came in and did well. But it’s still nice to have guys that are interchangeable like this.”

4. Griffin and Nuggets Coach Mike Malone had a testy exchange. It came in the fourth quarter with Jordan at the line shooting free throws after being intentionally fouled. Griffin received a technical but Malone said after the game that he owed the Clippers an apology. “As a head coach, as a leader of this team,” Malone said, “I can’t get caught up in that kind of stuff.” Griffin declined to comment on the specifics of the exchange but said he thought the league office would review the matter and intervene appropriately. Jordan, by the way, made six of 12 free throws while being intentionally fouled.

5. The Clippers need to feast on the turkeys that are their next four opponents. They’re entering a stretch of four straight games against teams with losing records and six consecutive games at home as they try to put .500 in the rearview mirror. “We’re at home and I think you should never lose a home game,” Rivers said. “It’s just my belief. Having said that, we’ve done that, we’ve lost two of them. So we have to start taking care of our home court.”