Paul’s 21 points help Clippers beat Bucks 103-90

Then there’s the way the Clippers forward feels those same referees deal with the players on his team.

The Clippers won’t be the championship contenders they dream of before their defense becomes something that’s consistent and trustworthy (or until they stop losing huge leads against the Warriors) but it seems that a humbler approach, or maybe simply the media forgetting about them for the time being, has helped them get back to where they should have been earlier this season.

Griffin and Jordan each have six technicals, tying Indiana’s Paul George for the league lead entering play Thursday. He was also ejected last week against Chicago after receiving a flagrant-2 foul. They were able to keep Wednesday night’s game closer, but ultimately couldn’t pull out a victory, falling 103-90 to the Clippers. “Austin (Rivers) and Lance were attacking and we were sharing the ball well”.

“We just tried to shrink the court on their scorers”, Paul said.

Boozer, 34, averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 23.8 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, generally coming off the bench as a role player.

Stephenson bounced a no-look pass to Paul Pierce for a layup and danced across the court in celebration.

“I think he told Marc that he loved him and Marc said he loved him back”, Clippers coach Doc Rivers deadpanned when asked what happened. “Sometimes technical fouls are deserved and sometimes they’re not, and I guess we’ve put ourselves in a position to not really get that leeway and get that little cushion that sometimes guys get”. “I remember I said something to him right after that and he was like, ‘Awww.’ He didn’t even know he did it”. “I just go out there and try to play hard, man, and just do whatever I can to my power, to my ability to help the team. That’s the kind of guy you want to have on your team”. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CST.

Record vs. Spurs (2014-15): 2-2. Overall, the Clippers made 48 percent of their shots compared to 43.2 for the Bucks. They hit 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) from behind the 3-point stripe compared to five of 16 (31.3 percent) for Milwaukee.

The Clippers haven’t been great as a home favorite this season. A hobbling Chris Paul won the epic first-round playoff series between the teams with a banked-in jumper in the closing seconds of Game 7 at Staples Center.