Final
Suns throttle Clippers
Dec 31, 2013 - 6:30 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns continued to impress Monday with a 107-88 throttling of the Clippers in Los Angeles.Goran Dragic provided 26 points, eight assists and five steals while Gerald Green made five of the Suns' 12 3-pointers en route to a 21-point effort.
Phoenix had five players score in double figures -- with P.J. Tucker and Channing Frye each donating 12 -- and essentially led wire-to-wire in its 10th win in its last 12 games.
Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford scored 15 points apiece and Chris Paul had 11 with seven assists, but the triumvirate combined to shoot 14-of-42 (33.3 percent) from the floor in the setback.
"They were so much tougher than us," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. "They played their game and we didn't play ours. They were a lot tougher and we had no fight back tonight."
The Clippers sported a proud 13-2 home record coming in and had not trailed by more than 14 points at any juncture in Staples Center.
On Monday, the Suns led by 21 at halftime.
Dragic started the game with a dunk off a turnover as Phoenix scored the first nine points and held a 30-24 lead heading into the second quarter.
"Our job was to come out strong and force them to play our rhythm," Dragic said.
Green scored 14 points in the second, including nine during a half-ending 16-4 flurry that pushed Phoenix's advantage to 61-40.
The Clippers connected on just 30.4 percent from the field over the first two quarters, and while they shot slightly better in the third, the Suns still controlled play and extended their lead to as many as 29.
Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter with the outcome no longer in doubt.
Game Notes
The Suns won 10 games in December for the first time since the 2007-08 season ... The Clippers have dropped three of four overall ... Los Angeles' DeAndre Jordan pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds ... The Clippers shot 36.5 percent from the field ... Markieff Morris rounded out Phoenix's leading scorers with 11 points to go with 12 rebounds.
Dec 31 12:54 AM- PHOENIX: 88
LOS ANGELES: 59
End of 3rd
Dec 31 12:24 AM - PHOENIX: 61
LOS ANGELES: 40
Halftime
Dec 30 11:39 PM - PHOENIX: 30
LOS ANGELES: 24
End of 1st
Dec 30 11:10 PM - PHOENIX: 0
LOS ANGELES: 0
1st Quarter - 11:48
Dec 30 10:41 PM
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