J.J. Redick ignites 3rd-quarter run as Clips hand Knicks 9th loss in row

Final

Regular Season Series (Game 1 of 2)

Knicks 78

(5-29, 2-16 away)

Clippers 99

(22-11, 14-4 home)

6:00 PM ET, December 31,2014
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA

	1	2	3	4	T
NY	21	19	18	20	78
LAC	29	21	24	25	99

Top Performers

NY: C. Anthony 19 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast
LAC: B. Griffin 13 Pts, 7 Reb, 11 Ast

 

 

 

 

Associated Press

Clippers Pound Knicks

. Redick dropped 20 points and Blake Griffin had 11 assists to help the Clippers defeat a struggling Knicks team 99-78.

Tags: NBA, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers

LOS ANGELES -- J.J. Redick is always ready to start a game. He follows a routine during warmups that ensures '"everything is activated," he said.
Redick was primed to go from the tip, scoring 20 points in 32 minutes to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat New York 99-78 on Wednesday, sending the Knicks to a year-ending ninth consecutive loss.
'"If I come in with energy then I'm going to benefit," Redick said.
The rest of Clippers do, too.

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"He gives everybody an opportunity to get into the game," said Chris Paul, who finished with eight assists. "He plays hard and he's a tough guy to guard."
Redick's jumper ignited a 13-0 run to open the third quarter that stretched the Clippers' lead from 10 points to 23.
"When he gets it going like that, it's tough for other teams to stop," said Blake Griffin, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and tied his career high with 11 assists.
DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan and Griffin scored four points apiece in the second-half spurt.
Griffin set up a dunk by Jordan with an alley-oop pass, a play they executed to perfection in the second quarter, too. Paul hit a 3-pointer for his first basket of the game as part of the run.
"We were able to keep our foot on the gas," Paul said. "We kept our intensity."
Carmelo Anthony was the only Knicks player in double figures with 19 points despite a sore right knee. New York led just once to start the game while falling to 2-16 on the road.
"I've never been 5-29," Anthony said. "It's getting testing not to get frustrated and it's tough to keep a smile on my face."
Anthony, who has led his team in scoring 24 times this season, said he's playing in pain.
"Tonight wasn't so bad, but I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring," he said. "Every day is different."
Knicks team president Phil Jackson was on hand at Staples Center, where he once guided the Lakers to repeat NBA championships, to see his team tie a season low for points.
Leading 63-40, the Clippers got outscored 18-11 to close out the third. But the Knicks couldn't get a sustained run together in the fourth, which began with a 3-pointer by Spencer Hawes and a three-point play from Griffin that pushed the Clippers' advantage to 22 points.
"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," rookie Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. "In the third we didn't come out with the right mindset and we ended up further behind."
Los Angeles shot 44 percent (15-for-34) from 3-point range, with Redick hitting four and Matt Barnes and Jordan Farmar three each. The Knicks had no answer for the league's second-best team from long-range, with New York making just 4 of 17 3-pointers.
Jamal Crawford added 13 points for the Clippers, who improved to 6-6 in their past 12 games. Crawford had two 3-pointers to pass Peja Stojakovic for ninth on the NBA's career list.
TIP-INS
Knicks: New York has lost five straight to the Clippers, including three in Los Angeles. ... The Knicks also lost at Sacramento and Portland on their West Coast trip. ... The Knicks planned to ring in the New Year in Los Angeles before flying home on Thursday, having arrived here on Sunday.
Clippers: Barnes got personal and technical fouls in the second after getting in the face of Andrea Bargnani, who swung his elbows high while holding onto the ball. ... Los Angeles' nine-game homestand that began on Dec. 25 and ends on Jan. 11 is the longest on any team's schedule this season and longest in franchise history.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
Knicks forward Jason Smith vows "2015 will be a new start for us."
"We've lost so many close games," he said before the game. ''It has come down to a couple of adjustments here and there. If we make them, we could be 12-12 or 20-5. But it's a long season and we are continuing to focus."
Anthony credited Fisher for keeping the Knicks motivated despite the mounting losses.
"Anyone else would have crumbled by now," he said.
NO RESOLVE
The Clippers aren't much on New Year's resolutions, with Griffin saying, "Any day is a good day for personal change."
Coach Doc Rivers jokes that he breaks most of his resolutions, "especially if it includes dieting."
UP NEXT
Knicks: Host Detroit on Friday.
Clippers: Host Philadelphia on Saturday.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press