LOS ANGELES – It was Lob City vs. Limp City.
After competing for one half, the high-flying Clippers of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan pulled away from the ancient and depleted Knicks, 93-80, before a sell-out crowd of 19,412 at Staples Center and a national TV audience.
Undermanned without their “Trio Grande’’ frontcourt, the Knicks battled with heart for the first half and even came on in the fourth quarter. But they didn’t have the firepower to keep it up as the athletic Clippers opened a 19-point lead in the third and held on.
The Knicks, who shot 35.8 percent, fell to 0-4 on their West Coast trip with a chance to finish it 0-5 tomorrow in Utah. They could fall into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division tonight if the Nets beat the Hawks.
“We got shots up but I don’t know if our shot selection was really great,” Mike Woodson said, “We had looks. We just couldn’t make some shots. The Clippers are a load. Jordan and Blake are big-time loads on that block.”
The Knicks knee-impaired interior was depleted, without starting center Tyson Chandler (strained neck, bruised knee), Carmelo Anthony (knee drainage) and Amar’e Stoudemire (knee surgery).
The Clippers highlight deluxe play of the day came in the third when Griffin unleashed his fury. On the break, starting point guard Paul found Blake on the break with a high alley-oop pass over Chris Copeland that he thundered home with the right hand. It’s why they call this place “Lob City’’ when the Clippers are in the building.
J.R. Smith finished with 17 points but shot just 4 of 20 from the field. Starting point guard Raymond Felton had 16 points and 9 rebounds in a solid outing.
Chris Paul scored 20 points with 8 assists and Griffin had 12 points and 12 boards and a lot of exciting dunks.
For the second straight game, the Knicks started the ragtag frontcourt of 40-year-old Kurt Thomas, Kenyon Martin and rookie Copeland. Thomas and Martin combined to score 6 points.
The Knicks said the reason for Chandler’s absence was more due to a strained muscle in his neck than a bruised left knee. And so the league’s oldest, most-battered team faced the league’s most athletic team. Melo stayed in the locker room getting treatment.
The Knicks took an 8-0, and 13-7 leads as Raymond Felton and Copeland started out on fire. But the Clippers athleticism soon became too much and the Clippers led 21-18 after one and took 44-37 lead at halftime.
Ex-Knick Chauncey Billups admitted the Clippers may have come out flat. “We wanted them to be full throttle with Carmelo and Tyson just for the competition of it,” Billups said. “But when they’re not playing, it’s kind of human nature to have a subconscious letdown, but you have to find a way to fight through it.”
The Clippers weren’t playing especially well but the talent gap was too much on this day. Smith came off the bench and missed his first four shots before rallying to notch 11 points at halftime. He shot just 3 of 11 but went to the basket and got calls, hitting 5 of 6 free throws.
The super acrobatic center Jordan gave the Clippers their first lead at 16-15 on a breakaway windmill dunk. Moments later, the super athletic Griffin lobbed a high alley-oop pass for Jordan – too high. Jordan airballed the dunk but collected the loose ball and jammed it anyway.
Woodson‘s team shot 7 of 21 in the first quarter but commited just 2 turnovers. They maximized their undermanned roster despite shooting 30 percent at halftime.
Copeland had 8 points in the half, making both of his 3-points shots in an attempt to make up for Melo’s scoring. But Thomas bricked too many wide open jumpers and backup center Marcus Camby couldn’t finish around the rim. They combined to shoot 1 of 9 in the half.
The Knicks shot just 30.2 percent. In the half but kept their turnovers to a minimum with 4. They wree outrebounded 28-18, missing Chandler.
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