Chris Paul and the Clippers are more than Trail Blazers can handle in 115-95 Game 1 blowout
Clippers forward Blake Griffin dunks over Blazers center Mason Plumlee, who is called for a foul on the play in Game 1 on Sunday night at Staples Center.
This was the matchup the Portland Trail Blazers said they wanted and they got it. All of it.
Blake Griffin dunked Sunday night at Staples Center like he hadn’t missed a game all season, Chris Paul scored and distributed with equal efficiency and DeAndre Jordan was a two-way force.
The Clippers were pleased to show the Trail Blazers what they were all about, their 115-95 victory in the opener of their first-round playoff series serving as a strong rebuttal to the implication that they were a preferable opponent.
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Griffin dunked over Mason Plumlee three times on the way to 19 points as well as 12 rebounds and six assists, hardly resembling someone who had recently been sidelined more than three months.
“I loved his energy,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “Today was the first day I thought he had great timing.”
Paul one-upped Portland counterpart Damian Lillard across the board with 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting to go with 11 assists while orchestrating an offense that shot 53.8%. Jordan soared for 12 rebounds and four blocks along with his 18 points for the Clippers, who will try to take a commanding series lead in Game 2 on Wednesday at Staples Center.
Lillard was solid with 21 points but Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute largely bottled up Portland’s C.J. McCollum, who made only three of 11 shots and finished with nine points. McCollum’s shooting performance was pretty much on par with that of his team, which made 39.8% of its shots and 33.3% of its three-point attempts.
“When it’s a pick and roll we were trapping,” Rivers said, “but when it’s individual defense, that’s where Luc excels and he did a pretty good job.”
Sending Jordan to the free-throw line for 12 attempts (and seven misses) in the fourth quarter couldn’t help the Trail Blazers rally. Portland Coach Terry Stotts started the strategy with 5:13 left and his team behind by 19 points. When he stopped with 3:06 remaining, the Trail Blazers trailed by 20.
“As long as he’s in there, it’s something we have to employ,” Stotts said. “I know it’s not necessarily pretty, but you have to do whatever you can to try to extend the game and win the game.”
The Clippers won easily despite making only six of 17 three-point shots and missing every attempt until Paul made one with 9:06 left in the third quarter. Clippers guard Jamal Crawford had a strong bounce-back effort after his horrid 2015 playoffs, scoring 13 points on six-for-12 shooting off the bench.
The Clippers took a 50-42 lead into halftime by virtue of a defense-fueled 11-2 run to close the half. They did all of their scoring to that point from relatively short distance after taking only two three-point shots and missing both. It was a season low for three-point attempts in a half.
Griffin was strong in the early going, scoring 10 points in the first quarter.
“Our offense was really clicking,” Griffin said. “I thought we were doing the things we wanted to do. That helps. I got easy shots. Pretty close to how I want to feel.”
There was some tension late in the second quarter when Lillard called timeout while on the ground and appeared to become incensed that Jordan and Paul continued to swipe at the ball after Lillard felt the whistle had blown.
The day started on a lighter note, with Clippers assistant equipment manager Matias Testi taking a few midrange jumpers a few feet away from Griffin at the team’s practice facility after their shoot-around.
Griffin, who had received a four-game suspension for punching his longtime friend at a Toronto restaurant in January over some teasing that went too far, raised his arms in triumph and smiled when one of Testi’s shots went through the basket.
Stotts, the Portland coach, playfully gave Ralph Lawler a hard time before the game about the Clippers broadcaster having said there was “no chance” the Trail Blazers would make the playoffs during a game between the teams in November.
Portland still has a chance to beat the Clippers. It just diminished slightly.
Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter: @latbbolch
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