Blake Griffin struggles in return, but Clippers beat Wizards

All eyes were on Blake Griffin on Sunday afteoon. It was his first game back with the Clippers after he missed 45 consecutive games with two injuries, and a four-game suspension because he fractured his right hand on the face of Matias Testi – the team assistant equipment manager.

Griffin understandably struggled at times. He finished with six points on 2-of-7 shooting, five rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. But the Clippers defeated the Washington Wizards 114-109 at Staples Center.

Chris Paul led the Clippers (48-28) with 27 points. His 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer with 22.9 seconds to play sealed Washington’s fate. Jamal Crawford scored 19 points, J.J. Redick had 18 and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Marcin Gortat led the Wizards (37-40) with 21 points and seven rebounds, Markieff Morris scored 18, John Wall 15 and Otto Porter Jr. 14.

Griffin was given a large round of applause upon being introduced with the starting lineup. He played 11 minutes and two seconds in the first half and scored two points on 1 of 2 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds and doled out two assists in the half.

The Clippers led by 11 at 60-49 at halftime. But the Wizards opened the third quarter by scoring the first 10 points to trail just 60-59. Jordan stopped the bleeding by making 1 of 2 free throws with 8:04 left in the quarter.

That was the begiing of an 8-0 run by the Clippers. Included therein was a coer 3-pointer by Redick that came off a pass from Chris Paul after he received a behind-the-back pass from Griffin as the crowd roared its approval.

The Clippers took an 84-73 lead into the fourth quarter.