Clippers sink slumping Suns
PHOENIX -- Blake Griffin tied a season-high with 29 points and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a third-quarter ejection to DeAndre Jordan to beat the slumping Phoenix Suns 124-114 on Wednesday.
J.J. Redick had 16 points for the Clippers and banked in a big 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down with 3:28 left to turn a three-point Los Angeles lead into a 112-106 margin.
Raymond Felton had 18 points followed with another 3-pointerwith 2:16 left, the Clippers had a 115-106 lead and their third win in as many games against the Suns this season.
Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers had 14 points and Brandon Bass added eight points in six minutes in place of Jordan for Los Angeles (31-18), who never trailed but gave back and handful of double-digit leads.
Eric Bledsoe had 41 points, his third 40-point game in 11 days, but the Suns (15-34) have lost five in a row overall and four straight at home. It was his fourth 30-point effort in the last nine games.
Devin Booker added 20 points for Phoenix
The Clippers led by as many as 14 in the third quarter and 83-71 with 4:52 left when Jordan was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul that sent Phoenix's Marquese Chriss crashing to the ground.
The Suns finished the quarter on a 17-9 run with Bledsoe scoring 14 in the quarter and pulling the Suns within two at 94-92 on a reverse layup with 10 seconds left.
But Bass hit the last basket of the quarter and six more points early in the fourth to keep the Clippers in front.
Phoenix got back within 106-103 on Bledsoe's 3-point play before Redick and Felton ended the bid with their 3-pointers.
The Suns missed 11 of their first 13 shots from the field while the Clippers jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead. Griffin had 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting and added three assists for Los Angeles, who made 16 of 24 shots and led by as many as 11.
Bledsoe kept the Suns within shouting distance with 11 points and 3-point play by Booker with 12.2 seconds left cut the lead to 38-31 at the quarter.
The Suns stayed in the game with 14 offensive rebounds in the first half which produced 20 second-chance points.
Crawford had eight points off the bench in the second quarter and pushed the Clippers lead back to 62-52 with six straight points including a tip-in with 1:19 left. But the Suns scored the final seven points of the half, five by Bledsoe including two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to cut the lead to 62-59 at intermission.
NOTES: Suns F Jared Dudley missed the game due to an illness. F Dragan Bender (right ankle soreness) returned after missing the previous three games. ... Clippers coach Doc Rivers said there is no timetable for G Chris Paul's return from a ligament tear in his left thumb. "He looked amazing (Tuesday). I am thinking, 'Well, can't we just put him in? Put a cast on that thing a go for it.' He just can't receive a lot of passes with his left (hand) yet." ... Clippers C DeAndre Jordan went into the game averaging an NBA-best 15.8 rebounds with Phoenix's Tyson Chandler seventh at 11.9. ... F Marquese Chriss had a career-high 20 points Sunday in Phoenix's 115-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Chriss joined Devin Booker (17 times) and Archie Goodwin as the only teenagers to score 20 points in a Suns uniform.