The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Denver Nuggets in an intense affair, winning 110-103 in the Clippers final home game of the regular season in front of a packed crowd at the Staples Center.
Denver opened up the fourth quarter scoring the first five points and tying the game up at 83-all. The two teams exchanged a couple of three pointers to keep things interesting. With the second team out there, Doc Rivers' squad had trouble finding their stroke as the Nuggets extended their lead to six points. Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford hit back-to-back and-one's to ignite the crowd and shifted momentum back to the home team. The Clippers were up just one when Chris Paul sunk a three pointer that essentially won the game and clinched home court in the first round of the playoffs.
Wilson Chandler was very impressive tonight as he finished the game with a high of 32 points, going 12 of 23 from the field and hitting an astounding 6 of 10 shots from beyond the three-point line. Chandler really needed to step up his game tonight with both Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson out and he answered the call. Kenneth Faried had a solid game as well, going up against the Los Angeles Clippers big men and finishing with 11 huge offensive rebounds and 17 points. Faried did most of his damage around the rim, shooting high percentage shots, ending the night making a little less than half of his attempts from the field.
For the Clippers, tonight was a total team effort, and it shows on the box score. Three starters finished the night with at least 20 points -- Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and J.J. Redick. Griffin finished with a team-high of 22, making 7 of 19 attempts from the floor and missing just one shot from charity stripe out of the nine tries. Both Jordan and Redick combined for 40 points with the former Duke sharp shooter hitting three of five from behind the perimeter and the Clippers center grabbed 21 total rebounds, leading both teams.
The Denver Nuggets will continue on to the Bay Area to play their final game against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night while the Los Angeles Clippers finish their season off tomorrow against the Phoenix Suns.