Griffin, Jordan each score 18, Clippers beat Nuggets 111-94

“That’s what we have to do”, Griffin said, “just look at ourselves and what we can each individually do to make this team better, and that should be our only concern, how we can make the team better and not get caught up in the personal goals or personal woes and just get better”. “Stay together and keep on working, and find a way to say positive”, Malone continued. And though those losses all came to teams residing among the top seven in the Western Conference, getting back in the win column is preferable to shrugging at the difficulty level of the opposition. It hasn’t been a complete loss as Blake Griffin took his game to new heights, and DeAndre Jordan developed into one of the league’s best defensive players. In fact it turned out to be the fouling that kept Griffin and Malone jawing at each other throughout the game. “Some words were exchanged, and it’s what happens”. When asked about the incident, Malone echoed that there is no issue at all between the two. “I think the difference was that we came out ready to play”. “I apologized (to Emmanuel Mudiay) for jumping him in that manner in a public forum”. Mike Malone doesn’t like it, but if it’s effective, what the hell else is he supposed to do? “We have to start winning now, but we’ve got to fix it, because it is not right. But that’s not the case”, said Sir Charles, citing the disarray of the team after registering a 7-8 start this season. “You just have to buckle down and do it. All of us, we have to start playing basketball”. It probably was my fault, I could have been doing a lot more.

Danilo Gallinari had 20 points and 18 rebounds for the Nuggets, who were missing forwards Kenneth Faried (ankle), Wilson Chandler (hip) and Joffrey Lauvergne (back) as well as center Jusuf Nurkic (knee). Gallo was enjoying a seemingly endless parade to the free throw line in the first half, and wound up going 16-of-17 from the stripe in the game.

“There’s a stretch where they hit some shots”. At the very least, he can push the pace, hustle, and rebound. “As long as we do that, we’ll be all right”.

“We are at our best when we have a balanced attack and we didn’t do that”, Crawford said. “But unfortunately, our shooting woes continue”.

Utah guard Rodney Hood scored 13 points, while center Ruby Gobert chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds. He has cooled off since, averaging just 6.8 points and shooting only 35.7 percent from the field, but he’s capable of being the difference-maker on any given night. A pair of improbable 3-point baskets in the third quarter had the Clippers finally happy, helping them pick up a needed 111-94 win on the road.

The biggest difference is in the results – not just losing games but failing to score more than 91 points of either of their last two games. As he insists on giving Jamal Crawford and Paul Pierce heavy minutes, more youthful and athletic players (who quite frankly have more to offer and deserve more playing time) such as Stephenson, Smith and Wesley Johnson are reduced to minimal roles. Chris Paul scored 24 with eight assists.

It’s only getting a hand in the face of a 3-point shooter.

Jokic with the pretty turnaround over Jordan. Over the last six games, he played five minutes in one, a mere 102 seconds in another, and was kept at the sideline all together for a contest against the Golden State Warriors. “But we need him to be what he was in the second half defensively”.