Trans. Apr 20 11:10 ET (Apr 20 11:10 ET ) Los Angeles Clippers 112, Memphis 91; Los Angeles leads the series, 1-0
It didn’t quite vault them back to the top-ten level we were used to seeing from Los Angeles when they raced out to that stellar first half of the season, and the presence of the offensively-lacking Memphis Grizzlies admittedly did play a part, but it was fun to see the Clippers ramp up their activity and pressure on the defensive end in the second half of this solid Game 1 win.
This attention to detail on that end, mixed with a surprisingly poor defensive first half from Memphis and plenty of run out and delayed transition opportunities for the Clippers in the second half, led to a final 21-point deficit in a game that didn’t really feel like a blowout until late. Blake Griffin (3-9 shooting, six fouls in an injury-plagued performance) continued his dodgy play against the Grizzlies, but Los Angeles’ backcourt dominated Memphis’ Mike Conley and Jerryd Bayless even at their most spirited.
In about 50 minutes of combined action, Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe put up 38 points on 14-18 shooting, with eight rebounds, 11 assists, and just two turnovers against the West’s best defensive team. Jamal Crawford nailed a four-point play in the first half (the 38th of his career), Caron Butler hit some opportunistic jumpers, and the Grizzlies just couldn’t score enough points to keep up.
Eric Bledsoe scored all 15 of his points in the final 10 minutes as the Los Angeles Clippers used a big fourth-quarter kick to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 112-91 in the first game of their Western Conference playoff series on Saturday in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chris Paul led seven players in double figures with 23 points, Eric Bledsoe had 15 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 112-91 on Saturday while getting just one dunk in their playoff opener.
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MADNESS!
