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Paul, Redick lead Clippers past Blazers

Nov 9, 2014 - 12:08 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Paul tallied 22 points and 11 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a rough start to edge the Portland Trail Blazers 106-102 on Saturday at Staples Center.

J.J. Redick contributed a season-high 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting and Jamal Crawford, making his first start of the season in place of Matt Barnes, added 20. DeAndre Jordan had 14 rebounds, including the biggest play of the game late in the fourth quarter.

"J.J. was amazing today," said Paul. "We played at the right pace. To see J.J. get going, it helped everybody."

Steve Blake pressured Paul into a tough baseline jumper with the Clippers leading by two and time winding down. Wes Matthews had Jordan boxed out, but the 7-footer jumped over Matthews' back and tipped the ball out to Crawford, who made two free throws with 7.2 seconds left to seal the outcome.

Damian Lillard scored 25 points with eight assists and seven rebounds for Portland, which lost to the Clippers in Los Angles for the sixth straight time. Nicolas Batum also stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, eight assists and eight boards and LeMarcus Aldridge went for 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Neither bench factored into the decision, with Portland's reserves outscoring their counterparts, 13-5. LA's starters had 101 points.

The Blazers canned their first six 3-pointers. Lillard made three, including a deep pull-up at 5:39 that gave Portland a double-digit lead.

LA shot 11-of-16 over the opening 12 minutes but trailed 38-33 heading into the second.

"Our offense was going good early," said Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "We made six of our first seven threes. Then they made adjustments."

Portland expanded its lead with a strong defensive second and owned a 62-53 lead at halftime.

Griffin made four free throws as part of a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, as the Clippers quickly made a game of it. Aldridge then had a hand in eight straight points, scoring six and throwing an alley-oop to Robin Lopez as Portland scored on four straight possessions, but Redick and Crawford hit back-to-back 3s to force a timeout.

Portland came up empty on its touch out of the huddle and Paul tied the game with a mid-range jumper. The Clips took their first lead and built on it with two more Crawford triples.

It was 79-79 through three.

Los Angeles won the early portion of the fourth, with Redick's floater staking the hosts a 90-81 lead 4 1/2 minutes in.

The Blazers chipped away. The margin was seven before Lillard hit a 31-footer to get Portland within four with 1:37 left.

After Jordan missed two free throws, Lillard split a double team, put a move on Griffin near the foul line and darted in for a lefty layup that made it 102-100.

Griffin couldn't hit a tough fade-away at the other end and Lillard went for the heat check, pulling up for a contested 3, but it rimmed out and Paul made two free throws with 38.5 seconds to go.

Batum quickly found Lillard for a layup out of a timeout to set up the final sequence.

Game Notes

Both teams had 30 points in the paint ... Portland won the rebounding battle 43-37 ... Lopez scored 19 points for the Blazers ... Griffin, playing through an illness, had 23 for Los Angles but shot just 8-of-24 from the field ... Clippers big man Spencer Hawes left the game with a left foot strain.