Clippers fall short against Pacers
LOS ANGELES -- David West scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter and finished with 12 rebounds, Paul George had 27 points, and the league-leading Indiana Pacers improved their best start in franchise history to 16-1 with a 105-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at Staples Center.
Roy Hibbert added 19 points in the Pacers' seventh consecutive win.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 20 points. Chris Paul had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Blake Griffin scored 16 and pulled down 12 rebounds - equaling teammate DeAndre Jordan's total.
The defending Pacific Division champion Clippers played their first game since finding out that J.J. Redick will be sidelined six to eight weeks because of a broken bone in his shooting hand.
Redick will be re-evaluated on Monday by hand specialist Dr. Steve Shin to determine what further course of treatment will be necessary. His injuries, which occurred in Friday night's 104-98 overtime win at Sacramento, complicated things even more for the Clippers with reserve forward Matt Barnes missing his sixth consecutive game because of an eye injury.
Los Angeles used the same starting lineup in each of its first 16 games before Paul sat out Friday's game with a right hamstring strain. Rivers opted to continue using Jamal Crawford off the bench despite his 31-point outing at Sacramento, so Willie Green started in Redick's place and scored only two points in 15 minutes.
West capped a 13-3 run with an 18-footer and two free throws to give the Pacers their biggest lead, 74-60, with 4:48 left in the third. Los Angeles closed to 93-89 on Jordan's dunk off an alley-oop lob from backup point guard Darren Collison with 7:12 to play.
Collison then hit an 18-footer and made one of two free throws before Crawford intercepted a pass by George Hill and set up a fast-break dunk by Collison that tied the score at 94-all with 4:52 remaining. But Hill responded with a three-point play, then sank three free throws with 3:04 left for a 100-96 margin after Collison fouled him on a three-point attempt.
Another alley-oop dunk by Jordan pulled the Clippers within 102-100 with 1:05 to go, and they had a chance to tie it again after a missed 3-point shot by Lance Stephenson at the other end. But Paul missed a 15-footer that rattled around the rim, and the Pacers made three of four free throws in the final 6.9 seconds to put it away.
George powered the Pacers to a 53-47 halftime lead with 18 points. The Clippers trailed by 11 late in the first quarter before taking their only lead, 41-40, on a dunk by Griffin with 3:05 left in the half.
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