LA Clippers defeat the Detroit Pistons and stay hot as the playoffs near- March 2014

The LA Clippers welcomed Jamal Crawford back to the court and held off the under-achieving Detroit Pistons to extend their home winning streak and keep a sold hold on the #3 spot in the Western Conference with their 12th win in 13 games.  Blake Griffin and Chris Paul led the attack as they also got some great play from Danny Granger (14 points) and Darren Collison and finally pulling away from the visitors in the 4th quarter.  Detroit has some talented players but they just don’t seem to gel well together. 

With a front court of Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith, it seems likely are too big and not fast enough with limited outside scoring.  The backcourt also has talent with Brandon Jennings, Rodney Stuckey, Kyle Singler and Wil Bynum but once again, there seems to be some lack of chemistry.  

Meanwhile, the Clippers play very well together while being one of the deepest teams in the NBA.  Doc Rivers adds great experience and confidence.  The goal is to get to the finals and go all the way and they have a great chance if they stay healthy.  JJ Reddick is still out with a bulging disk but Crawford and Granger have picked up the scoring slack. Glen, big baby Davis is a bit out of shape so their one weakness could be big men off the bench vs. deeper and tough big teams during the playoffs. 

The final score was 112-103 as the Pistons kept it somewhat close till the very end.  Jonas Jerebko from Sweden, was hot and tied his career high with 22 points but too much Paul (28 points and 15 assists) and Griffin, who added 25 points. DeAndre Jordon had 12 rebounds and 5 block shots to solidify the defense and remains at or near the top of the NBA in both categories.