LOS ANGELES – Chris Paul scored 21 points and Josh Smith chipped in 13 off the bench as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 103-90 at Staples Center on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bucks jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before the lights went out on the cour in the middle of a Blake Griffin free throw. Once the power was restored, so too, was the energy for the Clippers who quickly went on 15-5 run and led by eight after the first quarter.
Los Angeles pushed the lead to 11 at halftime thanks to some clutch shooting by Paul Pierce who surpassed 26,000 points for his career with a jumpshot at the buzzer.
DeAndre Jordan picked up back-to-back technical fouls midway through the third quarter and was ejected from the game. Thankfully for Jordan, Josh Smith picked up the slack with his best game as a Clipper, scoring 13 points off the bench, 10 of which came in the third quarter.
"We have to be able to make the ball pop, get into multiple pick and rolls, and when we do that, we get a good shot," Smith said.
Chris Paul led the Clippers with 21 points and eight assists, and J.J. Redick chipped in 19 points, most of which came in the first half.
Michael Carter-Williams and O.J. Mayo each scored 17 points for the Bucks in the loss.
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TURNING POINT
Josh Smith came in the game after Jordan was ejected and quickly made his presence felt on the offensive end of the floor. After Jordan headed to the locker room, Smith hit back-to-back threes to restore the Clippers double-digit lead.
"The threes are good sometimes," Rivers said of Smith. "I thought he gave us good energy off the bench. If he continues to play like that, that group will be good."
MVP OF THE GAME
Josh Smith. J-Smoove scored 13 big points to lead all scorers off the bench.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Los Angeles Clippers lead the NBA with 25 technical fouls on the season.
"That was our goal coming into the season," joked Blake Griffin about the stat. "I like when guys play with emotion, but we need to be smarter at times. Sometimes our technical fouls are deserved and sometimes they're not. We put ourselves in that position."
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Someone forgot to pay the electric bill at Staples Center #Clippers https://t.co/N8BrJaxRAW — NBA On Def Pen (@NBAOnDefPen) December 17, 2015
Talk about a power outage.
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT
The look on your face when half your team went out to a strip club the night before and partied til the wee hours of the morning…
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"I think he told Mark that he loved him, and Mark told DJ that he loved him back." -- Doc Rivers on what Jordan said to referee Mark Davis to get ejected.
NOTES
Paul Pierce surpassed 26,000 points for his career, good for 16th on the all-time list. Greg Monroe missed his second consecutive game with a sprained MCL.
RECORD
Milwaukee Bucks (10-17, 2-12 on the road) 5th in Central Division
Los Angeles Clippers (16-10, 10-5 at home) 2nd in Pacific Division
WHAT'S NEXT?
A rematch with the Golden State Warriors is next on the schedule for the Bucks. Milwaukee snapped the Warriors 24-0 start to the season last week.
The Clippers hung around Los Angeles just long enough to do their laundry, as they travel to Texas for a two-game road trip at San Antonio and Houston on Friday and Saturday.
"I call it the NBA," Paul said about the one home game before doing the Texas two-step. "That's the way it is."
