homer sayson
CHICAGO -- The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz -- 107-96 -- Monday morning at the Staples Center and barged into the pages of NBA history by becoming only the third team to go through an entire month without losing.
Since their November 26 debacle at home against the New Orleans Hornets, the Clippers have won 17 in a row including an immaculate 16-0 sweep in December. Only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs have gone undefeated for a whole month with a minimum of 16 games played.
Power forward Blake Griffin, the fulcrum of the Clippers' high-flying, free-wheeling offense, was held to had a quiet seven points and seven rebounds as the 6-foot-9 leaper shot only field goals with three makes. But on a day when history was to be made, other Clippers stepped up, including their vaunted bench with pumped 33..
Caron Butler went 6-for-6 above the 3-point arc and led the way with 29 points. All-Star point guard Chris Paul finished with 19 points, nine assists and five steals while DeAndre Jordan scored 14 and gathered six rebounds.
Trailing throughout most of the game and by as many 11 points (70-59) in the thrid quarter, the stubborn Jazz crept to within 83-81 after a pair of free throws by Enes Kanter at the 9:34 mark of the fourth quarter. But reserve Jamal Crawford reaffirmed the depth and firepower of the Clippers bench by leading a 10-4 spurt that gave L.A. a thicker cushion, 93-85 with 5:26 to go.
"When we win we usually jump up and down once or twice. Tonight we let them jump up and down three or four times, so everyone had their fill, "L.A. Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro told the Associated Press.
Indeed, the Clippers have a lot to be merry about. Besides their franchise-record 17 straight wins, the Clippers currently own the league's best record at 25-6. They are 15-3 at home and 10-3 on the road.
Al Jefferson led Utah with a game-high 30 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn't enough to save a Jazz team that made only 33 of 80 field goals (41.2 percent) and five of 13 threes (38.5 percent). And some of Utah's wounds were self-inflicted -- nine missed free throws and 17 turnovers.
With their third consecutive loss and seventh in ten games, the Jazz dropped to 15-17.
"We're not playing our best basketball right now," a frustrated Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin told the AP. (HDS)
Photo by: Ed De La Vega of PhilBoxing.com
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