Griffin dunks the claws off the Bobcats in Clippers' win
LOS ANGELES -- A common criticism of Blake Griffin's game the past three seasons is that all Griffin does is dunk, a notion he mocks in one of his Kia commercials.
Griffin has shown the league this year, that he's more than a highlight waiting to happen, with improvements from the mid-range, at the free-throw line, on the block and on the defensive end.
But on Tuesday night, Griffin reminded people of something in case they've forgotten -- he's still really good at dunking.
Griffin threw down seven of them in the Clippers' 106-84 triumph over Charlotte at Staples Center, including a stretch of three dunks in less than a minute near the end of the first half.
"You can't guard him when he takes off," Chris Paul said.
The first of the three, nearly a three-quarter court alley-oop pass from Paul, looked like the best of the night, until Griffin went over and through Charlotte's Gerald Henderson to finish with the left hand and draw the foul.
Paul said the long-distance lob wasn't planned.
"It was almost an accident," Paul said. "I think everyone will think I did that on purpose, but he had the hard part. I threw the ball just for him to catch it and take a dribble and dunk.
"I guess he saw an opportunity to not have to take a dribble."
"I didn't want to waste time," Griffin joked.
Griffin finished with 24 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists in 31 minutes.
Playing without Jamal Crawford and Eric Bledsoe, the Clippers relied on a tightened backcourt rotation with Matt Barnes getting minutes at shooting guard.
Using his size and some hot shooting from the outside, Barnes led the Clippers with 17 off the bench.
The Clippers moved the ball exceptionally well against Charlotte, owners of the worst record in the NBA. The Clippers assisted on 34 of their 41 field goals, including 13 from Paul.
"We had really good ball movement," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Chris controlled the game with his assists."
Henderson led Charlotte with 24 points.
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