Five takeaways from the Clippers’ win over Lakers

The Clippers rallied late in the game to defeat the Lakers, 118-111, and improve their record to 2-0. Here’s five takeaways from the victory:

1) Blake Griffin became the primary offense for the Clippers late in the fourth quarter.

He had 21 of his 39 points in the second half. He had eight points in the fourth quarter, which included going six for six from the free-throw line. Griffin was 13 of 23 from the field and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

2) In the fourth quarter of a tense game, the Clippers had Chris Paul play defense against Kobe Bryant. Paul knew it wasn’t going to be an easy job, but he was up to the task of defending Bryant. Paul did his part to force Bryant into missing six of seven shots in the fourth quarter.

“I just tried to mix it up a little bit,” Paul said.

3) The Clippers remain an inconsistent defensive team. They held the Lakers to 22 points in the first quarter. But the Clippers gave up 34 points to the Lakers in the second quarter and 34 again in the third before getting enough stops in the fourth to hold the Lakers to 21 points.

4) The Clippers were outrebounded for the second consecutive game. The Lakers had 40 rebounds, nine offensive. The Clippers had 36 rebounds, six offensive. DeAndre Jordan led the Clippers with 13 rebounds.

5) The Clippers launched 33 three-pointers, making 12 (36.4%). The biggest three-pointer was made by Jamal Crawford off a pass from Griffin, breaking a tie that gave the Clippers a 112-109 lead they would not relinquish.

Twitter: @BA_Turner