Clippers set franchise record of 25 road wins after beating Lakers

Blake Griffin said that in order to be a great team, players have to be motivated by two distinct energies.

“At home you try to feed off the positive energy, and on the road you try and feed off of the negative energy,” Griffin said.

The Clippers have excelled in the latter part of that equation this season, setting a franchise record Sunday evening for wins on the road with 25 after beating the Lakers, 106-78.

They set the tone early this season, going 6-1 on their first long road trip, and recently put an exclamation mark on their away efforts after coming back from a 19-point deficit to beat the Trail Blazers in Portland on April 1, 126-122.

The Clippers’ statistics this season have been nearly identical at home and on the road. They’re shooting 47.2% from the field at home, 47.5% on the road. From beyond the three-point line, they’re shooting 37.9% both at home and on the road. From the free-throw line, they’re shooting 70.7% at home, 70.9% on the road. They’re averaging 43.4 rebounds at home, 41.6 on the road. And they’re averaging 26.2 assists at home, 23.4 on the road.

Griffin said the team has almost started to enjoy entering an arena and feeling the crowd’s negativity.

“We were talking about it on the bus [Saturday evening], or on the plane, somewhere, it’s kind of cool playing on the road because you know everybody is against you for the most part and it’s fun to have that mentality,” Griffin said. “I’m glad we’ve taken on that mentality.”

The Clippers (52-26) are in fifth place in the Western Conference, just 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Houston Rockets with four games remaining in the regular season, including one road game on April 14 against the Phoenix Suns.

The team has never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs and is hoping with its success on the road that things might be different this time around.

Chris Paul said: “[Clippers Coach] Doc [Rivers] even said it last year, he said at some point in the playoffs, if you’re really trying to make a run for the championship, you’re going to lose at home and you’ve got to be able to win on the road.”

Last year in the postseason, the Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors in a chippy first-round, seven-games series before losing to Oklahoma City in the second round in six games.

“Those are two of the toughest places to play in the regular season, even more so in the playoffs in terms of crowd noise and atmosphere,” J.J. Redick said. “This year that stuff helps going into the playoffs, now having had that experience.”