Clippers bust out of a slog-jam at the finish to edge Memphis Grizzlies, 94-92
Clippers point guard Chris Paul grabs an offensive rebound in front of Grizzlies center Marc Gasol in the second half.
The Clippers were being lulled into the kind of game they didn’t want to play, something that can easily happen while facing the Memphis Grizzzzzzlies.
The tempo was slow, passes rarely found their targets and a record for fan boredom seemed within reach.
Then the final minute evolved into a delightful blur Monday night at Staples Center, Chris Paul and J.J. Redick making an otherwise tedious night worthwhile for the Clippers.
Paul drove into the paint and zipped a pass to Redick for the go-ahead three-pointer with 55 seconds left during the Clippers’ eventual 94-92 victory over the Grizzlies that ended their two-game losing streak.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said the play coming out of a timeout was designed to get Redick the shot but called the fact that it became a three-pointer “a bonus.”
Paul also made one of two free throws with 0.3 of a second left after Memphis’ Marc Gasol missed a free throw that could have tied the score with 3.5 seconds to go. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan batted the rebound out to Paul on the perimeter, where he was immediately wrapped up by the Grizzlies’ Tony Allen.
Paul completed the important plays on a night he otherwise struggled in his return from a one-game absence caused by a strained right groin. He finished with 14 points on four-for-10 shooting to go with four assists and four turnovers in 32 minutes.
“In our league, it’s win by any means necessary,” Paul said. “It’s not going to be pretty every night.”
Paul also had two questionable fouls called on him in the final minutes on jumpers by Memphis’ Mike Conley and Matt Barnes.
Clippers forward Blake Griffin continued his stellar start to the season with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Jordan finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Redick’s 16 points included three free throws with 13 seconds left, but the shooting guard put the Clippers in a bind when he fouled Gasol with 3.5 seconds left while fighting for a loose ball and the Clippers (5-2) leading by only two points.
No worries. Gasol made the first attempt, missed the second and the Clippers prevailed. Barely.
“When you play them, they take their time, they slow the game down, so you knew that was going to be the game,” Rivers said. “We played their game and won the game, but that’s not how we want to play.”
The Clippers managed some rare momentum during a game in which neither team led by double figures after Jamal Crawford’s three-pointer beat the buzzer to give his team a 70-66 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Zach Randolph finished the game with 26 points for Memphis (3-5), which has been one of the disappointments of the season’s first two weeks after completing its trip by losing four of five games.
The additions of Barnes, a former Clipper, and Brandan Wright were supposed to bolster a team known for winning ugly, but the winning part of the equation had largely been absent.
A 50-point loss to the Golden State Warriors last week even prompted some snark from the Clippers’ official Twitter account, which sent out a message with the hashtag “#didntloseby50” after the Clippers fell to the Warriors by a comparatively slim four points two days later.
“We’ve taken a few butt-kickings this year, but it’s still early,” Barnes said before his first game back on what had been his home court the previous five seasons, counting two with the Lakers from 2010-12. “We have to kind of reclaim our identity and be that nasty team that I’ve played against for so many years.”
The Grizzlies resembled their old selves for much of a first half in which they mucked things up for the Clippers — particularly Paul, who had only three points on one-for-three shooting to go with two assists, two turnovers and one steal.
It would get better eventually, for Paul and for the Clippers.
Twitter: @latbbolch
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