SAN FRANCISCO -- Point guard Chris Paul had an impressive 27 points in 28 minutes of play and the mighty Los Angeles Clippers easily manhandled budding rivals the Golden State Warriors, 115-89, Saturday night at the Staples Center in downtown L.A.
The 6-foot ace and four-time All-Star was a model for efficiency. He nailed 10-of-12 field goals, 5-of-6 threes and 2-of-2 free throws. Paul also grabbed five rebounds and threw nine assists without creating a single turnover.
In a starry season already highlighted by several highs, the Clippers' mauling of the visiting Warriors was their 12th straight home win, a franchise record. The Clippers had just come off a franchise standard of 17 wins in a row, including a NBA record-tying 16-0 in the month of December.
"A back-to-back, and I thought our energy was good throughout," head coach Vinny Del Negro told NBA.com of his Clippers who also beat the Lakers - 107-102 - Friday night at Staples.
The Warriors had already beaten the Clippers twice this season -- the last one a 115-94 beatdown at the Oracle Arena on January 2 -- but they were never in this one-sided third meeting. The Clippers dropped a 35-12 bomb in the opening quarter and thanks to a 36-23 surge in the third period, L.A. went into the final 12 minutes with a 103-66 lead.
At 27-8, the Clippers maintain their helm in the Pacific Division and stretched their lead to four games over the 22-11 Warriors. (RM)
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