Suns suffer worst defeat of season, lose by 40 to Clippers
Feb 22, 2016, 11:21 PM
Phoenix Suns center Alex Len, left, of Ukraine, and Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan reach for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — J.J. Redick scored 22 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Phoenix 124-84 Monday night, handing the Suns their 12th consecutive loss overall and 15th in a row on the road.
DeAndre Jordan added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who split their previous two games against the West’s top two teams, the Warriors and Spurs. Los Angeles had its way with the conference’s second-worst team, earning its most lopsided win of the season while improving to 20-6 without injured Blake Griffin.
Archie Goodwin scored 20 points off the bench for the Suns, who trailed the entire game on the way to their worst loss of the season. Alex Len added 14 points and Mirza Teletovic had 13.
The Clippers shot 51 percent in the first half and led by 19 at the end of the first quarter.
The Suns opened the second quarter with a 16-1 run — their lone stretch of success — against the Clippers’ reserves to close within four. Los Angeles went 0 for 4 and committed five turnovers in a span of 5:23.
That brought the Clippers’ starters back, with Redick scoring 11 points during a 22-9 spurt that extended their lead to 59-42 at the break. Redick’s 3-pointer capped the run in which he missed another 3 but scrambled for the offensive rebound and hit a pull-up jumper.
Jordan took over in the third, scoring the Clippers’ first 10 points to push their lead to 69-50. Besides making two free throws, the big man took a fast-break, alley-oop pass from Paul for a reverse dunk, scored on a hook shot and then dunked again. The Clippers outscored the Suns 31-19 in the period and built a 90-61 lead going into the fourth.
Redick, Jordan, Paul and the other starters rested the entire fourth quarter. They watched the second unit increase the lead to 43 points — their biggest of the year — helped by six 3s in the period.
Clippers newcomer Jeff Green added 18 points.
TIP-INS
Suns: They haven’t won on the road since Dec. 7 at Chicago. … Their 11 previous losses were by an average of 12 points. … C Tyson Chandler sat out with a bruised right shoulder. … Phoenix fell to 2-8 in the second game of a back-to-back set, having lost to the Spurs by seven points on Sunday.
Clippers: They have won five of seven. … Los Angeles assigned F Branden Dawson to the Erie Bayhawks of the NBA’s D-League, his third such stint this season. He appeared in three games with the Clippers, with two points and three rebounds. … A challenge for the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice” was filmed during timeouts.
UP NEXT
The Suns host Brooklyn on Thursday. The Nets won the first meeting 94-91 on Dec. 1.
