Advertisement

Blake Griffin, Matt Barnes bully Spurs as Clippers win playoff opener

LOS ANGELES – Two posterizing Blake Griffin dunks and a tussle for the ball with Matt Barnes made a spectacle of San Antonio Spurs backup center Aron Baynes on Sunday night. Turns out, that was all the spark the Los Angeles Clippers needed as they rolled to a 107-92 victory in the opener of the best-of-seven, first-round NBA playoff series.

Griffin "dunks on anybody," Barnes said. "But when you dunk on their center twice, it's pretty impressive."

Entering this season, many projected the Clippers and Spurs to meet in the Western Conference finals. A brutally tough race in the West, however, left the reigning NBA champions and Clippers facing each other in the opening round.

The expectation is a long series filled with several subplots along the way. The Clippers' rag-dolling of Baynes highlighted the first act.

By appearances, Baynes and his 6-foot-10, 260-pound frame looked like the strongest man on the Staples Center floor. Baynes, who was born in New Zealand and has played for the Australian national team, has been known to order three to four pounds of brisket to eat; he's also served as an adequate replacement for the Spurs when center Tiago Splitter has been out.

Despite giving up three inches and many more pounds, Barnes engaged in a wrestling match with Baynes along the baseline with 4:41 left in the third quarter. As the two grappled for the ball out of bounds, Barnes somehow tossed Baynes to the floor and into photographers.

"I just saw an opportunity," Barnes said. "[Clippers guard] Chris [Paul] knocked it away and he put [the ball] right in my face. I just tried to grab it. Neither one of us freaking let go of it [and] he ended up on the ground."

Clippers fans roared after they saw the replay on the video scoreboard. The referees eventually called a jump ball after looking at replays to make sure there wasn't a flagrant foul. The play immediately raised Los Angeles' energy.

"Matt is probably the heart and soul of our team," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. "When he makes plays like that, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He's an emotional guy. That play was a good, hard playoff play and it lifted the whole building."

Said Barnes: "After that, we got the crowd into it and we started rolling."

It's been a while since Griffin had one of his trademark poster dunks, especially after he missed 15 games this season because of right elbow surgery. But 40 seconds later, Griffin pushed the energy even higher in the building with a one-handed hammer dunk on Baynes to give the Clippers a 64-54 lead.

For an encore, Griffin completed a nifty spin dribble move with another thunderous slam on Baynes with 1:02 remaining in the third quarter. With new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer celebrating from a baseline seat and pumping his right fist in the air, Griffin ran back down court with the Clippers firmly in control.

"I was talking to [Griffin] in the shower and he said he didn't know that he could still dunk on people," Barnes said. "I thought he lost his hops. But they were two impressive dunks. They should be 1 and 2 [on highlight shows] unless LeBron James did a layup or something. They'd probably give him No. 1. But outside of that, [Griffin] should be 1 and 2."

Said Griffin: "I did not want to settle for any jump shots."

The Clippers entered the fourth quarter ahead by 15 points. The Spurs never closed within nine points the rest of the way. Paul played a complete game with a game-high 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Griffin had 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, Crawford added 17 points off the bench and center DeAndre Jordan had 14 rebounds and four blocks. The Spurs shot a miserable 36.6 percent from the field and missed 23 of 33 3-point shots.

The Clippers will probably have fun at Baynes' expense behind the scenes by watching replays at their practice facility on Monday. But Los Angeles also has a strong respect for the Spurs and their five titles – and still expects the NBA's most intriguing first-round series to be a long one.

"They're still the defending champs and they're going to be the defending champs every night," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "We have a lot of confidence in our team, but you just have to stay humble and respect who you're playing. They're a heck of a basketball team. We won one game."