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Clippers stomp on reeling Knicks
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
LOS ANGELES — The year ended with what has become routine for the New York Knicks: another loss.
Guard J.J. Redick scored 20 points and the Los Angeles Clippers romped past the Knicks 99-78 on Wednesday at the Staples Center.
Forward Blake Griffin had 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as the Clippers (22-11) handed the Knicks (5-29) their ninth consecutive loss. They also beat New York for the fifth straight time.
“We kept getting defensive stops today,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I think defensively we did really well. We missed a lot of shots in the first half, but we made some shots in the second half. We had many easy and quick scores, and we took away easy scores for the Knicks.”
Clippers center Deandre Jordan finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds in three quarters. Clippers reserve guard Jamal Crawford scored 13 points and surpassed Peja Stojakovic for ninth place on the career list for 3-pointers with a trey early in the fourth quarter.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field. No other New York player reached double figures.
“We didn’t come out with a purpose in the third quarter, in terms of putting ourselves in a position to win the fourth quarter,” said New York’s Derek Fisher, the former Laker who returned to Staples for the first time as a head coach. “The first half wasn’t terrible. We were down 10, but we had caused problems for the Clippers. So in the third quarter we didn’t come out with the right mindset and we ended up further behind.”
Los Angeles coasted to a 50-40 halftime advantage behind Redick’s shooting exhibition. He converted four of his five 3-pointers before the break and had 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
“I feel like if I come to the game with energy, I am going to benefit from it,” Redick said.
The Clippers were 8 of 15 on 3-pointers in the first half compared with 1 of 8 for the Knicks. Overall, they connected on 15 of 34 3-pointers (44.1 percent) compared with 4 of 17 (23.5 percent) for New York.
The Clippers hit 43.9 percent (36 of 82) of their shots from the floor and the Knicks managed 38.1 percent (32 of 84). Los Angeles also outrebounded New York 50-40.
In the third quarter, Los Angeles increased the lead to as much as 22 points before taking a 78-54 cushion into the fourth quarter. New York never got any closer than 16 the rest of the way.
“We just found a groove,” Griffin said. “Early on, we found that groove and we were kind of rolling and we had some plays defensively. Third quarter, I thought we got stops and made shots over and over.”
Knicks reserve guard J.R. Smith returned after missing six games with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot, but like the rest of the club, was largely ineffective. Smith managed just seven points in 17 minutes.
Center Andrea Bargnani made his season debut after a calf injury had prolonged it. Bargnani finished with nine points and four rebounds in 20 minutes.
“Twelve months is a long time to be out, to be unable to play a game,” Bargnani said. “So I have to just keep working hard to get back into a rhythm. It won’t take long.”
New York played without forward Amar’e Stoudemire (sore right knee), center Samuel Dalembert (sprained right ankle), guard Iman Shumpert (disclocated left shoulder) and forward Cleanthony Early (right knee).
NOTES: Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers denied there was any validity to published reports saying friction among some of his players has contributed to their sometimes uneven play. Rivers added that “it doesn’t matter, but I don’t get that sense” whether his players got along with each other. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks outside the locker room anyway. I really don’t because it’s not going to matter,” Rivers said. “I’ve had teams that’s won that go along; I’ve had teams that have won that hadn’t gotten along. That’s why it doesn’t matter.” … The two clubs meet again on March 25 in Madison Square Garden. … The Knicks host the Detroit Pistons on Friday. The Clippers resume their nine-game homestand on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
