• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Griffin helps Clippers cruise past Suns

Mar 29, 2012 - 5:45 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Blake Griffin had 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists on Wednesday and the Clippers cruised to a 103-86 win over the Suns.

Chris Paul added 15 points and 15 assists, Caron Butler scored 14 and DeAndre Jordan finished with 13 points. The Clippers have won five in a row at home and three straight overall.

Marcin Gortat paced Phoenix with 23 points. Channing Frye added 16 and Steve Nash handed out 15 assists for the Suns, who have dropped four of their last six games.

"We didn't play well," said Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry. "Our execution wasn't very good. You have to have some sort of consistent flow and we didn't have that tonight."

Nether team led by more that seven in a back-and-forth opening half. The Clippers got seven points from Jordan in the second quarter to take a 43-41 advantage into the break, then decisively took control with an overwhelmingly effective third.

They were still up two, 64-62, late in the quarter when Kenyon Martin made a putback, Paul hit a three and Griffin scored in close, pushing the margin to 71-62. Every starter scored in the quarter for LA, which shot 54.2 percent over that span and carried a 74-64 lead into the fourth.

The Suns pulled within seven, 81-74, with seven minutes remaining before the Clippers scored nine straight, capped by a three-point play from Nick Young, to put the game away.

Griffin provided the exclamation mark several minutes later with back-to-back slams. The first came off a feed from Paul and victimized a helpless Frye. The second came in transition and made it 94-77.

"Our defense was good and we got some easy transition baskets," said Griffin. "We're in a fight right now, we have to come out and play solid basketball."

Game Notes

Los Angeles improved to 18-8 at home on the season...The Suns had won four straight against the Clippers...Despite the loss, Phoenix is 11-6 since the All-Star break.