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Griffin takes Paul's place to lead Clippers past Nets

Jan 17, 2012 - 12:22 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Blake Griffin had a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds as the Chris Paul-less Los Angeles Clippers took down the New Jersey Nets, 101-91.

Paul sat out Monday's game with a strained left hamstring, which he suffered in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 102-94 victory over the Lakers. Paul had an MRI on Sunday, which came back negative, and he is listed as day-to-day.

Randy Foye started in place of Paul and scored 13 points while dishing out 10 assists.

"Randy Foye came in and played an unbelievable game," Clippers guard Chauncey Billups said. "Everybody played a great game. We talked about getting more rebounds, the more rebounds we get, we get more shots."

The Clippers outrebounded the Nets, 46-35.

Caron Butler and Billups netted 20 points apiece for the Clippers, who have won six of seven. All six of the wins have come at home, while the lone loss occurred at Portland last Tuesday.

MarShon Brooks had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Nets, who have dropped five of six. They went 1-3 on their four-game road trip.

The Nets used a 15-2 run, capped by a Deron Williams three-pointer from the left wing, to knot the game at 81 with 6:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back layups by Foye pushed the Clippers' lead back to four, and Billups hit a runner a possession later to make it 89-84 with 4:23 left.

The New Jersey offense struggled down the stretch, and Billups put the game away with a three-pointer from the right wing, which gave the Clippers a 97-89 lead with 1:09 to go.

A 16-0 first-quarter run by the Clippers set the tone. Butler scored the final 10 points of the surge -- including back-to-back three-pointers to cap the run -- giving Los Angeles a 27-10 advantage with 2:49 left in the opening quarter.

"We have to do a better job in the first quarter; we dug ourselves a big hole," Nets head coach Avery Johnson said. "I like the way our guys battled back and played their hearts out."

The Clippers had a 32-17 lead after one quarter, and took a 53-40 advantage into the break. Butler had 17 points while Griffin totaled 16 points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Los Angeles led by as many as 15 in the third stanza before taking a 74-63 lead into the fourth. Brooks poured in 13 third-quarter points to keep the Nets within striking distance.

Game Notes

Paul is averaging 18.0 points and 8.4 assists over nine games this season...DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and four blocks for Los Angeles...Kris Humphries finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for New Jersey...The Nets never led.