Crawford’s long-range barrage lifts Clippers past New Orleans
Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford (11) drives to the basket between New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Austin Rivers (25) and Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin (32) in the first half of an NBA basketball in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 24, 2014. AP
NEW ORLEANS — Jamal Crawford drained seven of the Los Angeles Clippers’ 16 three-pointers on Monday as the Clippers wrapped up a three-game NBA road trip with a 123-110 NBA victory over New Orleans.
One day after they knocked off the Western Conference-leading Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Clippers showed no sign of a let down against the Pelicans.
Crawford scored 24 points, Blake Griffin added 22 and Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan both notched double-doubles — Paul contributing 19 points and 13 assists against his former team and Jordan scoring 14 points and pulling down 16 rebounds.
Anthony Davis led New Orleans with 26 points and 11 rebounds but was hit with a costly technical foul late in New Orleans’ fourth straight defeat.
Los Angeles connected on six three-pointers in the second quarter as they stretched their lead to 61-53 at halftime.
Crawford added two more from beyond the arc early in the third period and Griffin’s 9-0 scoring run stretched the Clippers’ lead to 76-58 just four minutes into the quarter.
New Orleans trimmed the deficit to 10 points with 7:39 left to play when Jeff Withey put back a Tyreke Evans miss.
But Crawford answered with a three-pointer, and three free throws from Paul after Davis’ foul and subsequent technical gave the Clippers a comfortable 111-95 lead.
“I thought when we started out the game the execution was close to flawless. We were getting dunks,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Then we started making threes, and when you make threes it opens the middle back up. It’s just really nice.
“Overall, five starters in double figures, and the ball movement on our team is just terrific,” Rivers added. “When you play that unselfish with that many good players a lot of good things are going to happen.”
Earlier Monday the Clippers confirmed they had inked seven-year veteran forward Glen Davis, who became a free agent after he was bought out of his contract by Orlando.
Rivers said Davis would undergo a required physical exam on Tuesday, but he’s expected to be available for his new team when they host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Davis appeared in 45 games this season for the Magic, averaging 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds.
With the Clippers he reunites with Rivers, who coached Davis for four seasons in Boston and together were part of the Celtics’ 2008 NBA Championship run.
