Clippers 100, Nuggets 94
Rookie Eric Bledsoe played marvelously in place of injured Eric Gordon, scoring 15 of his career-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, as the Los Angeles Clippers cooled off the visiting Denver Nuggets, 100-94, Saturday night.
Blake Griffin had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers (23-40), who have won two straight after losing five in a row.
Nene had 25 points and 14 rebounds as the Nuggets (37-27) fell to 6-2 since trading Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks, despite producing a 24-6 edge on the offensive glass Saturday.
Gordon, playing in just his second game since returning from an injured wrist suffered Jan. 22, re-aggravated the injury with five minutes to play in the first half. He took a hard hit from Denver center Timofey Mozgov during a drive to the hoop and left for X-rays, which were negative.
But the Clippers didn’t miss him, because Bledsoe shot 7 of 11 from the floor, and added seven steals, four rebounds and three assists. He scored five points and assisted on another hoop as Los Angeles scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 78-65 lead with 11:07 remaining.
Denver got within five, but Bledsoe responded by swishing a 3-pointer with 2:30 left that helped seal it.
Nuggets starting guard Arron Afflalo left in the second quarter with a hamstring injury.