Clippers stunned by 76ers, 121-110, in Blake Griffin’s return from injury

There was a strong sense emanating from the Clippers that their 121-110 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center was disturbing on many levels.

After L.A. blew a 19-point lead, there was Clippers center DeAndre Jordan saying “it was more individual than it was five” in describing how his teammates played less like a team in losing to a 76ers team playing without centers Joel Embiid (bruised left knee) and Jahlil Okafor (right knee soreness).

There was Blake Griffin back after missing 18 games recovering from right knee surgery saying “we played selfishly” following his 12-point, 11-rebound and six-turnover night.

There was Austin Rivers saying “we got to figure [stuff] out” after the Clippers played without Coach Doc Rivers, who returned to hotel before the start of the game because of illness.

They were all trying to make sense of how they squandered a 78-59 lead in the third, how it became an 89-89 tie at the end of the quarter and how they got down by 13 points in the fourth.

“I felt like we played like a team to get the lead,” Jordan said. “But once we got it, we stopped playing defense and it was more individual than it was five — on both ends of the floor.

“I don’t know how it turned into that, but that’s what it turned in to. You saw the game. We didn’t play as a team after the eight-minute mark in the third quarter, I think it was. Very disappointing. … We’re going to get our ass whooped every time if we play like that.”

Jordan, who had 10 points and 20 rebounds, wasn’t done.

“We can’t play basketball like that — on both ends of the floor,” he said. “That’s why you got four other guys out there with you. I can’t do anything by myself. Raymond [Felton] can’t do anything by himself. Jamal [Crawford] can’t do anything. … Well, maybe Jamal can sometimes. But we all need each other, man, on both ends of the floor.”

The Clippers were outscored in the paint 66-20. They turned the ball over 19 times, eight in the fourth. They had only 17 assists.

They saw the 76ers shoot 50% from the field to improve to 3-10 with Embiid out. Nerlens Noel scored a season-high 19 points and Richaun Holmes matched his career high with 18 points for Philadelphia, which is only 16-27 on the season but has won nine of its last 12 games.

“I felt all right. I thought overall, we played selfishly,” said Griffin, who made three of 11 shots. “We got off to a big lead and kind of started doing our own thing, didn’t really do what got us that lead, stopped playing defense. A team like this that’s won games and is young and plays hard and is well-coached, they’re going to take advantage of a run. I just thought we did a poor job in the third and fourth.”

Said Austin Rivers: “We’ve got a lot of [stuff] we got to clean up, man, within our team. That’s all I’m gonna say. We’ve got to figure [stuff] out.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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