PORTLAND, Sporting Alert – Blake Griffin grabbed a double-double and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 114-106 in NBA scores on Thursday night.
In Other NBA Scores
The Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs also collected wins on the third night of scheduled games.
Griffin had 27 points, 13 rebounds and three steals for the Clippers (1-0) to get their season off to a winning start, while Chris Paul added 27 points, five assists and five rebounds at the Moda Center.
Key reserve Jamal Crawford supported with 15 points and four steals and Marreese Speights knocked down two of his three 3-point attempts to end with 15 points, also off the bench for the Clippers, who led by as many as 15 points.
DeAndre Jordan grabbed 12 rebounds in the win.
Doc Rivers’ side contained Portland from behind the 3-point line, as the home side went just 4-of-18 from that range for 22 percent.
The Trail Blazers shot 68.4 percent on 13-of-19 shooting from long-range in the season opener win over the Jazz on Wednesday night.
”We just saw the clinic they put on at the 3-point line, so we just tried to make it tough on them and get them inside the line,” said Paul.
”When you shoot 40 percent on the road and you have the grit to still win the game, that was pretty cool,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
The LA Clippers were only 8-of-29 from 3-pointers, but shot 40.7 percent as a team overall from the floor.
Rivers seems happy about that.
”When you shoot 40 percent on the road and you have the grit to still win the game, that was pretty cool,” the veteran coach said.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers (1-1) with 29 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes before fouling out with 19 seconds left in the game.
Lillard and Portland coach Terry Stotts were not too happy with some of the calls by the officials on Thursday night.
”I just think we grew frustrated with the way some things went,” Lillard said.
”When we’re in that situation we’ve probably got to do a better job of controlling what we can control.”
Stotts added: ”I won’t comment on the officiating, but obviously I didn’t like some of the calls.”
Maurice Harkless had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds, while Mason Plumlee, who got into a tussle with Jordan early in the game, ended with 17 points, eight boards and three blocks.
CJ McCollum scored 16 points for the Portland Trail Blazers in the defeat.
Leonard Leads The Spurs To A Win Again
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs (2-0) rallied with a strong second half performance to beat the Sacramento Kings 102-94 on Thursday night.
Kawhi Leonard collected 30 points, five assists and five steals to lead the way for the Spurs, who got 16 points from LaMarcus Aldridge and 12 each from reserves Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Leonard became the first NBA player to put up back-to-back 30-point and five-steal games since Eddie Jones achieved the feat for Miami in December 2002.
“I just tried to do something for us, lighting up our defense a little bit,” Leonard said.
“You see players play at an extremely high level on offense, but this guys does it on both ends,” Spurs’ Pau Gasol, who played 20 minutes and had seven points and six rebounds said.
“It’s hard to say where he’s more exceptional. He’s a very special player.”
DeMarcus Cousins led Sacramento (1-1) with 37 points and 16 rebounds in 37 minutes, while Rudy Gay had 17 points for the Kings, who have lost seven straight to the San Antonio Spurs.
In other NBA scores on Thursday night, Dwayne Wade scored 22 points in his Chicago debut and Jimmy Bulter had 24 points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Bulls to beat the Boston Celtics 105-99.
Paul Millsap scored 28 points and Dwight Howard grabbed 19 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks secured a 114-99 victory over the Washington Wizards in the season opener for both teams.
NBA Scores and Stats
Thursday, October 27
Atlanta Hawks 114, Washington Wizards 99
Chicago Bulls 105, Boston Celtics 99
San Antonio Spurs 102, Sacramento Kings 94
Los Angeles Clippers 114, Portland Trail Blazers 106
