Blake Griffin has 44 points and 15 rebounds in Clippers’ loss to Knicks

Here rests one Timofey Mozgov.

New York Knick by trade, human piñata by night.

Except the Clippers’ Blake Griffin didn’t have to punch through the kid -- he elevated over him and used him like a prop, throwing down the dunk of the year.

Sure to be shown on an endless loop on ESPN and it held definite possibilities going viral on YouTube.

Crashing, you say?

Well there is that.

That was the sound, also, of the Clippers landing hard in an 124-115 loss to the Knicks on Saturday night at Staples Center. They lost their ninth game in a row despite an inspired effort from rookie Griffin, who tried his desperate best to elevate his teammates with a spectacular air show.

Griffin had a career-high 44 points, easily surpassing his previous high of 26, picked up 15 rebounds and contributed seven assists for good measure.

“A win is next,” said Griffin, who set a franchise rookie record for points in a game. “All that means nothing if you don’t come out with a win.”

For the Knicks, Amare Stoudemire had 39 points and 11 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari scored 31 points, including four three-point baskets, and Raymond Felton had 20 points.

But back to Griffin’s remarkable star turn.

If anything, it made Griffin’s spectacular NBA debut against Portland seem like a mellow warm-up act. Griffin started strong in that game and slowed the pace.

On Saturday, he came out firing and got stronger and more inspired the tougher things got for the Clippers. In the third quarter, Griffin had 17 points and, really, was the only reason it was even a contest in the fourth.

Well, at least the Clippers will always have Oklahoma City.

In fact, that’s all they have after 14 games.

One win.

Additionally, they have yet to win on the road and are evoking memories of that Clippers team that started 0-17, finished with only nine victories and won three times on the road. That was the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99.

As for Griffin’s dunk over Mozgov, where he appeared to climb over the Knick: “Randy (Foye) just passed to me at the right time. I think he helped me get up a little bit, once I got on top of him. I don’t know. I just tried to throw it in. I couldn’t get to the rim.”

But Griffin was critical of himself.

“Defensively, I didn’t do too well,” he said. “We can’t let Amar’e get 39 and Gallinari get 31. We’ve just got to keep working. We’re playing hard….Just making sure I stay aggressive, not forcing anything and let it come to me and play with a little better pace.” As painful as this is getting, there’s no danger of a lockout shortening this season.

At one point, the Clippers trailed by 14 points in the third quarter but chipped away with Griffin’s near one-man show. And, as it often happens, the Clippers gave glimpses of turning it around, only to crumble at crunch time.

Another Griffin jam, with 5 minutes 48 seconds to play, pulled the Clippers within five points, cutting the Knicks lead to 108-103. But just like that, their momentum vanished and the Knicks expanded their led to nine points barely 30 seconds later.

For the Clippers, Eric Gordon started to find his range, going 11 for 20 for 25 points and Randy Foye scored 14 points off the bench. It was Foye’s second game back after being out since Oct. 30 because of a strained left hamstring.

Etc.

The Clippers have been starting three rookies, and ended up going with two against the Knicks, Griffin and point guard Eric Bledsoe, who is struggling.

It was never going to be easy for one rookie, let alone two, and, at times, three in the starting lineup.

“I give those guys a lot of credit,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. “They are working. They’re trying. They’re preparing. It’s just that you can’t speed the process. It just takes time.

“[With] some guys, it happens quicker. They’re getting valuable experience right now, and like I said, hopefully we can get our key guys back and get a rotation finally down and use the guys we have.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

twitter.com/reallisa