Clippers lose Paul, but beat Spurs
LOS ANGELES -- Despite losing Chris Paul to a hamstring injury, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs 106-101 Thursday night at Staples Center.
Paul suffered a strained left hamstring early in the third quarter and did not return. He finished with team-high 19 points, six assists and seven rebounds in 23 minutes.
Without Paul, the Clippers received a boost from their bench. Marreese Speights had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Raymond Felton added 13 points. Jamal Crawford chipped in 11 points. The Clippers' reserves outscored the Spurs' bench 58-31.
Center DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and nine rebounds, and J.J. Redick also scored 11 for the Clippers (22-8), who beat the Spurs for the second time this season.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs (23-6) with 27 points and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol contributed 21 points and eight rebounds. Danny Green and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 10 apiece. The Spurs lost for only the second time on the road. They are 15-2 away from home.
The Spurs cut the Clippers' double-digit halftime lead several times in the second half but were unable to overcome it.
The Spurs closed to within five early in the fourth quarter, but again the Clippers increased the deficit back to double figures again. San Antonio made a late run near the end, but it wasn't enough.
The Clippers dictated for much of the first half, taking a 57-45 lead the break. They held the Spurs to 38.5 percent shooting while hitting 50 percent of their shots in the first half. Los Angeles converted 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from behind the arc compared to 2-of-6 (33.3 percent) for San Antonio.
For the game, the Clippers hit 46.4 percent of their shots to 40.2 percent for the Spurs. From long distance, the Clippers were 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) to 6-of-19 (31.6 percent)
The Spurs played without reserve Manu Ginobili. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich decided to rest the 39-year-old Ginobili before the trip.
Before leaving, Paul passed Kevin Garnett (16th) for career steals with 1,859. Paul is one theft shy of moving pass Isiah Thomas for 15th place at 1,861.
Paul's injury added to the Clippers' injury woes. Forward Blake Griffin underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday and could be out up to six weeks.
NOTES: In addition to being one of the league's premier players, F Kawhi Leonard is emerging as one of the Spurs' leaders. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich believes the retirement of Tim Duncan forced Leonard to become more vocal. "By nature, he's a pretty quiet individual as we all know, but he's actually come to me with questions or requests or come to his team in timeouts and talked about certain things that are going on the court, where in the past he just listened to Timmy, Manu (Ginobili) and Tony (Parker), " Popovich said. "With Timmy's absence, it's opened up an avenue for other people to step in, and he's done that." ... Both clubs resume play Friday. The Spurs visit the Portland Trail Blazers, while the Clippers host the Dallas Mavericks.