The Thursday night national televised game between the Clippers and Nets was close for about 4 minutes, but it eventually turned out to be an event that went worse than Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMA’s if you’re a Nets fan.
Blake Griffin scored 24 points, 20 of them coming in the first half, and Chris Paul had 17 assists in 24 minutes as the Clippers easily handled the Nets 123-84.
The Nets actually held a 17-14 lead early in the first quarter but that went away very quickly. The night was highlighted by a bunch of Clipper’s dunks, large leads, Floyd Mayweather and the Carter family who was in attendance.
As for the game, after the Nets lost their small three-point lead, it was over. The Nets were outscored by 26 in the second quarter, which was the official start of “garbage time” for both teams.
Los Angeles had Brooklyn’s number in almost every category. The Clippers shot 59% from the field compared to the Nets 35%, they out-rebounded them 48-40, scored 15 more fast break points, but surprisingly had two more turnovers than the Nets.
Jerome Jordan, who played 21 minutes because of the score, had his first double-double of the season scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. With the loss, the Nets have lost nine out of 11, and questions remain whether the Nets are on the verge of starting a fire sale with the trade deadline looming.
Mirza Teletovic left the game late in the second quarter for the Nets. He walked out of the arena on his own power during halftime and was taking to a local hospital because of shortness of breath.
The Nets will try to bounce back from this embarrassing loss, continuing their west coast trip as they face the Jazz in Utah on Saturday.
As for the Clippers, they return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Arizona and take on the Suns.
