Clippers push record to NBA-best 10-1 with thumping of Nets

Eighteen seconds after the Clippers fell behind 2-0 against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, this game essentially was over.

The rout began to take shape early on, the Clippers’ lead swelling to 28 points in the first quarter and to as many as 40 in the fourth quarter of a dominating 127-95 blowout of the Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center.

With all the starters sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, the fans started to entertain themselves by doing the wave as they watched the Clippers roll up their biggest point total of the season and extend their winning streak to seven games.

Chris Paul (21 points, nine assists), Blake Griffin (20 points, six rebounds, six assists), J.J. Redick (18 points), Luc Mbah a Moute (11 points) and DeAndre Jordan (14 rebounds) welcomed the rest after playing 10 games in 16 days.

Before the starters left, however, they put on a show for the fans, who also cheered when rookie Diamond Stone scored his first regular-season points in a Clippers uniform.

There was the Paul bounce pass to Jordan for a right-handed dunk in the face of Justin Hamilton, who was powerless to keep himself out of the highlight clip, as the Clippers’ lead ballooned to 34 points in the third quarter.

And that came right after Redick made a nifty pass to Griffin for a one-handed dunk.

“The defense is so good right now that our offense is allowed to get easy baskets,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said after his team improved the NBA’s best record to 10-1. “They were getting stops. They’re covering for each other. They’re talking. They’re angry when the other team scores. If you want something to bring a team together, it’s always going to be defense. Defense brings you together and it allows your offense to play better.”

The Clippers led 39-14 after the first quarter, tying their season high for points in a quarter. They scored 71 in the first half, the second time this season they have had at least 70 in a half. They handed out 18 first-half assists, their most in a half this season. Not surprisingly, Paul had eight of them.

Paul’s only issue came early in the game when the score grew to 35-7 in the first quarter. He waved his hand asking to come out because he was tired.

He eventually had to take a foul on Randy Foye to stop the clock with 2 minutes 19 seconds left so he could come out for a rest in what already figured to be an easy night for the Clippers.

Brooklyn didn’t play center Brook Lopez to give him a rest day. The Nets certainly missed his 19.4 points per game.

The Nets also didn’t have guard Jeremy Lin, who has been out with a strained left hamstring. Lin leads the team in assists, averaging 6.2 per game.

“We just kind of worry about us,” Jordan said. “We can’t worry about who we’re playing. We’ve got to come out and play Clippers basketball and worry about our defense.”

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