Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – If one player’s going to dominate the stat line in the dress rehearsal for the regular season, it might as well be Blake Griffin.
Head coach Doc Rivers played his starters for two and a half quarters in a 99-89 loss to the Trail Blazers in the preseason finale Friday at STAPLES Center. Griffin once again featured his improved jump shot and led the way with 21 points in 25 minutes, while Chris Paul dished out 11 assists and scored eight points in 21 minutes.
The Clippers only won two preseason games, but perhaps more importantly, they’ll head into the regular season with a lot of rest and a healthy squad. The Clippers don't start the regular season until Oct. 30, giving them five days of rest and practice.
Rivers gave Jamal Crawford the night off Friday to make sure he’s healthy for the regular season opener, and the starting five will all be ready to go when games start to matter. In addition, Jordan Farmar’s back healed up enough for him to return to action and get 22:52 of playing time Friday.
The Clippers made a late run against the Blazers, capped by a CJ Wilcox three-pointer to cut the deficit to four points with less than a minute left, but it wasn’t enough.
Forward Hedo Turkoglu made the most of his time with eight points in 14 minutes. J.J. Redick and Jared Cunningham both scores 12 points and were the other Clippers other than Griffin in double digits.
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