Clippers win 6th straight, thrash lowly 76ers
Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan scored 18 of his 22 points on dunks in a dominating outing against the Philadelphia 76ers. AP
LOS ANGELES — DeAndre Jordan led six players in double figures with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 130-99 Saturday for their season-high sixth straight victory.
Chris Paul added 15 points and 14 assists while setting up Jordan for some highlight-reel dunks that excited the sellout crowd against an opponent with the NBA’s worst record.
Rookie big man Jahlil Okafor scored 23 points off the bench for the 76ers, who fell to 2-21 on the road and 3-33 overall while giving up a season high in points. Nik Stauskas made six 3-pointers for 18 points, and Nerlens Noel added 13 points.
The Clippers pulled away to a 69-52 lead with a 26-12 run to end the first half. Jordan scored 10 points, punctuated by three dunks – including one off an alley-oop from Paul. Austin Rivers and Paul added four points each in the spurt.
In all, Jordan had a season-high nine dunks.
The 76ers led by five in the first quarter, when they shot 50 percent from the floor and owned a 16-2 edge in the paint. They kept it close until midway through the second, when they trailed by three.
That’s when the Clippers launched their big run, propelled by Jordan’s raw power at the rim. He even went 3 of 5 on free throws to go with five rebounds in the period.
Jordan kept it up in the third, dunking three more times. His best came on a fast-break alley-oop when Paul passed behind his head to a trailing Jordan, who slammed it home for an 89-65 lead. J.J. Redick, who finished with 16 points, added three 3-pointers in the quarter.
Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers rested his starters in the fourth, which began with the Clippers leading 103-74.
Austin Rivers scored 26 points, Jamal Crawford had 13 and Wesley Johnson 12 for the Clippers, who shot 60 percent from the floor and 80 percent at the line.
