Clippers coast past Nuggets
LOS ANGELES -- J.J. Redick scored 27 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers coasted to a 119-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night at Staples Center.
The Clippers, who played without injured forward Blake Griffin (knee surgery), received 16 points and 15 assists from point guard Chris Paul and 13 points and 13 rebounds from center DeAndre Jordan.
Forward Luc Mbah a Moute added 14 points for Los Angeles (21-8), which won for the fourth time in five contests and claimed its sixth in the last seven meetings against Denver.
Guard Will Barton came off the bench to score 22 points to lead the Nuggets (12-17), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Forward Danilo Gallinari contributed 17 points and Kenneth Faried chipped in 15 points and 11 boards. Forward Wilson Chandler had 13 points.
Center Nikola Jokic, who almost a recorded a triple-double in Monday's win over Dallas, managed just nine points and six rebounds.
The Nuggets had scored at least 117 points in their last three games. But one night after they ran past the Mavericks in 117-107 win, they clearly didn't have the legs or the energy to keep up with the Clippers.
Los Angeles, which never trailed, padded a 15-point advantage at the break and sealed the outcome in the third quarter. The Clippers led by as much as 29 in the third before taking a 95-72 edge heading into the final period.
That allowed Clippers coach Doc Rivers to rest his starters in the fourth.
The Clippers rolled to a 68-53 lead at the half behind some hot shooting. Redick nailed all five of his 3-pointers and 7 of 10 attempts from the floor for 19 first-half points to lead all scorers. Redick finished hitting 10 of 16 shots and 7 of 9 on 3s.
For the half, Los Angeles connected on 61.4 percent of its shots and 9 of 15 from long distance (60 percent), while Denver shot 45.2 percent from the floor and 6 of 18 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
Overall, the Clippers shot 54.7 percent to 43.3 percent for the Nuggets. On 3-pointers, Los Angeles converted 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) to 11 of 39 (28.2 percent) for Denver.
NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers believes his club has the depth to offset the absence of Clippers F Blake Griffin, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday morning and is expected to miss four to six weeks. "The great players are a nice blanket for guys, but when you take that blanket away, now you have to play," Rivers said. "I think our guys will be ready. I think that's our make-up this year." ... Clippers F/C Marreese Speights played his 600th career game. ... The Nuggets entered the contest as the NBA's leading rebounding team at 48.1 boards per game. Denver's 12.8 offensive rebounds ranked second in the league. ... The Clippers play the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at Staples Center. The Nuggets host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.