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Clippers come alive late, nip Raptors

Mar 27, 2011 - 5:38 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Blake Griffin powered his way to 22 points and 16 rebounds, as the Los Angeles Clippers rallied late for a 94-90 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Chris Kaman added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who went a 24-10 run over the game's final 8 1/2 minutes. Griffin had eight points and eight rebounds in the last quarter, when the hosts held a 28-17 scoring advantage.

"Down the stretch we executed and got some stops," Griffin said. "I'm really trying to work on being a better fourth quarter player."

One night after allowing 138 points in a loss to Golden State, the Raptors blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and had their five-game winning streak against the Clippers broken.

Ed Davis had a career-best 21 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost their fourth in a row. They finished 1-4 on their road trip.

"I thought we battled most of the night, but that's two games in a row that the zone hurt us," Raptors coach Jay Triano said.

Davis' tip-in off a miss from James Johnson gave the Raptors an 88-87 lead, but Griffin came right back with a slam with 1:43 left.

The Clippers didn't relinquish the lead down the stretch. Eric Gordon then blocked Leandro Barbosa's right baseline jumper and hit a three at the other end with a minute remaining.

A layup from DeMar DeRozan had the visitors within a deuce with 21.1 seconds to go, but Mo Williams, who fell on his head on the Gordon block play, sank two free throws for a four-point cushion. That came with 12.6 seconds to go.

Johnson then missed a three-point attempt, sealing Toronto's fate. Griffin failed on two free throw attempts, but Ryan Gomes secured the rebound and LA ran out the remaining 5.8 seconds.

Both teams went 8-of-23 from the field in the opening quarter, resulting in a 21-18 lead for the Raptors after 12 minutes. They led, 44-43 at the half and 73-66 going to the fourth.

"The energy early wasn't great, but we found a way at the end," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "The zone helped us."

Toronto gained its largest lead of 10 at 80-70, but Griffin's slam eventually pushed the Clippers to an 83-82 edge with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

Game Notes

The Raptors will host Milwaukee on Wednesday, while the Clippers' next game is the same night at home against Dallas...The was the first time the Clippers won at home over the Raptors since November 23, 2005...Gordon had 17 points, three more than teammate Randy Foye...Johnson and Barbosa each scored 14, two less than Jose Calderon.