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Griffin, Clippers ease past Cavs

Mar 17, 2014 - 4:54 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Blake Griffin flirted with a triple- double on his 25th birthday and his Los Angeles Clippers rolled to a 102-80 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers from Staples Center.

Griffin finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the rout, with Chris Paul tallying 16 points and 15 assists and DeAndre Jordan scoring 15 to go with 11 boards.

"We moved the ball tonight," said Paul. "A lot of unselfish plays."

Seven Clippers reached double figures in LA's 11th consecutive win.

"Right now is the right time of the year to be playing this well," added Paul.

The Cavaliers had to play most of this one without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who left late in the first quarter with a left bicep injury. Luol Deng had a game-high 23 points as the Cavs saw their brief two-game road winning streak come to an end.

"The Clippers transition offense hurt us in the first half," said Cleveland head coach Mike Brown. "In the second half, our guys fought but give them the credit for getting the win tonight."

Cleveland coupled a pair of turnovers with misses on nine of its first 10 shots and trailed 17-3 nearly midway through the first quarter.

The Clippers owned a 27-18 advantage after one and 52-38 edge at halftime.

The margin grew to 21 points in the third period but the Cavs never stopped fighting. Jarrett Jack keyed a 10-0 surge to pull to 76-69 at 9:22 of the fourth.

After Griffin ended the run with his jumper out of a timeout, Paul and Matt Barnes hit consecutive triples to restore a comfortable Clippers edge.

The final spread was the largest of the contest.

Game Notes

LA guard Darren Collison missed the tilt with a stomach virus. Willie Green started in his place and scored 10 points ... Clippers rookie guard Reggie Bullock, also celebrating a birthday, poured in 14 points ... Griffin has scored at least 20 points in 26 straight games ... Los Angeles had just five turnovers, while Cleveland turned it over 17 times ... Hawes was ejected after a second technical foul with 1:19 left in the game.