Monday’s contest between Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns looked to be over early when Blake Griffin was having one of those games where he simply could not be stopped by anyone.
Griffin scored 22 points in the first quarter alone on an array of shots and moves around the basket and even payed a little homage to Karl Malone on this breakaway dunk. He shot a ridiculous 14-of-16 from the field for 37 points, and the Clippers got out to a 62-45 lead at half time. The Suns, however, kept clawing away at the lead despite the power forward’s dominance and eventually brought the game down to a single-digit lead for the Clippers in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately for both teams, things had to get real feisty before that happened.
Fighting for an offensive rebound, Griffin got tangled with P.J. Tucker under the rim before losing balance and falling on top of Tucker. Tucker then inexplicably threw a jab at Griffin while down on the ground, and the two had to be separated by teammates. Tucker, who was having a huge game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block at the time, was given a foul and tossed from the game.
The Clippers still had a comfortable 14-point lead at that point, but Griffin eventually fouled out of the game and the Suns kept fighting back until they brought the game within just four points with 33 seconds remaining in the contest. There simply wasn’t enough time left on the clock, however, and Phoenix eventually ran out of steam and lost 112-105. Still, they never gave up and fought until the very end, leaving former player and current analyst Brent Barry highly impressed:
Wow, Suns showing a ton of togetherness battling Clips through all 4 quarters and hunting down 6 more points in final 2 to close, BG 6PFs
— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) March 11, 2014
Despite their efforts, the Suns are now half a game behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed in the West after dropping six of their last nine games. They are far from done as Eric Bledsoe will soon rejoin the team and seven of their next 10 games are against sub .500 teams. The real challenge will come in their final nine games, when they have to face six teams in the West that are currently above them in the standings.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.