Clippers Clobber Grizzlies, 114-98

The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-98, Thursday at
FedExForum. The Clippers (39-26) maintained control throughout Thursday’s
contest, as they ultimately entered the fourth and final quarter with a 20-point
lead. The convincing victory not only gave Los Angeles their third win in four
games, but they also added another game to their lead over the Grizzlies
(36-29), who were creeping on them in the Western Conference standings.
Surprisingly, it was Austin Rivers off the bench who led the way for the
Clippers, scoring a team-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 32 minutes.
Rivers led the way for what ended up being a very impressive outing for the
team’s reserves, who managed to score 61 of the team’s 114 points Thursday.
Additionally, Blake Griffin nearly added a triple-double in just 30 minutes of
playing time, as he recorded 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in that
time. For Memphis, Marc Gasol led the way with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting,
five rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes. The bigger story for the
Grizzlies, however, was the poor play of starting point guard Mike Conley, who
shot an abysmal 3-of-14 from the field and 0-of-4 from behind the arc en route
to scoring 13 points in 36 minutes. As a team, Memphis shot a fairly respectable
46 percent from the field, but in the end, their lackluster defensive effort
kept them out of Thursday’s contest. Up next, the Clippers will head home
Saturday to take on the 76ers, while the Grizzlies, who have now lost four in a
row, will try to end that streak against the Hawks on Saturday.