Paul Pierce fueled Los Angeles to a speedy start, but the Clippers finished flat in a 107-97 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
The Truth tallied 11 points in a productive 14 minutes at the Staples Center, playing a key role in the Clippers’ early success.
After giving L.A. the lead with a three-pointer from the wing, 5-2, Paul pushed it to seven with a pair of free throws, 14-7. The Hawks got within two on a Kyle Korver three, but No. 34 hit them with the hoop-and-harm, sparking an 18-8 surge to end the first quarter, 37-25.
Paul continued to contribute in the second stanza, stretching the L.A. lead to 15 with his second triple of the game, which forced an Atlanta timeout with the score 53-38. However, as point guard Chris Paul said after the game, the Clips led the Hawks back into it, starting with a 12-2 Atlanta run to close the half.
“We just let them back in it. Coming out of that timeout, Paul was yelling ‘Let’s take it up to twenty, let’s take it up to twenty,’” said CP3, who finished with 17 points and 11 dimes. “I had some bad turnovers tonight. Low energy. I think a lot of credit goes to Atlanta fighting to get back.”
The Hawks trailed 55-50 at the break, but with momentum on their side, they open the second half with an 8-2 outburst. Jeff Teague tied the game at 57 with a pair of free throws before capping the run with a crafty layup. The point guard spun around big man DeAndre Jordan to lay one in and give the Hawks their first lead of the second half, 59-57.
“We had ‘it’ at the beginning of the game, but we didn’t have ‘it’ for 48 minutes,” said Jordan, who logged an impressive 17 points, 11 boards, five blocks and four steals.
The lead swapped hands seven more times before Teague put Atlanta on top for good with another layup, 92-90, with 5:30 to play.
The Hawks (35-28) outscored the Clippers in the paint, 48-36, as well as in second-chance points, 20-7. Teague led all scorers with 22 points, while power forward Paul Millsap totaled 20 with a game-high 18 rebounds.
The Clippers coughed up 19 turnovers, all in the final three frames, for 13 points.
WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS – MAR. 7
1. Golden State Warriors (55-6)
2. San Antonio Spurs (53-9) 2.5 GB
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-20) 13 GB
4. Los Angeles Clippers (41-20) 15 GB
5. Memphis Grizzlies (37-25) 18.5 GB
6. Dallas Mavericks (33-30) 23 GB
7. Portland Trail Blazers (33-31) 23.5 GB
8. Houston Rockets (31-32) 25 GB
NEXT UP
The Clippers (40-21) hit the road for games in Dallas (33-30) and Oklahoma City (43-20) before returning home to L.A. Monday’s meeting with the Mavericks is set for 5:30 p.m. PT.
This season’s series is split with the Mavs, as the Clips have won one at home and lost another on the road Nov. 11, 118-108.
The Mavericks look to snap a two-game skid after most recently falling to the Denver Nuggets, 116-114, on Sunday. The veteran team is headed by power forward Dirk Nowitzki (17.6 points per game), point guard Deron Williams (14.1 points, 5.5 assists per game) and center Zaza Pachulia (10.5 boards, 1.0 steal per game).
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