Blake Griffin recorded 23 points and 15 rebounds, while former Wizards Caron Butler and Randy Foye combined for 31 points as the Los Angeles Clippers ended the Washington Wizards two-game winning streak by a score of 102-84 Wednesday night at the Staples Center.
The game's decisive moments came after Nick Young hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 66-66 with 3:29 to go in the third quarter. The Clippers (18-9) responded by scoring the last eight points of the third quarter, six of which were provided by Griffin, and Washington (7-23) never got closer than four points after that.
Griffin's size and strength created problems for whoever Randy Wittman assigned to guard him, as Trevor Booker, Jan Vesely, and Javale McGee each picked up five fouls over the course of the evening. Former Wizard Butler scored 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field. Foye scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, including two big three-pointers. The first of those threes made the score 78-72, while the second made the score 88-76 with 7:01 to play.
John Wall led the way for the Wizards with 18 points and 12 assists on 4-of-13 shooting. McGee shared Washington's top-scoring honors with 18 points, including a 4-of-6 shooting performance from the line. Young added 14 points, but struggled in his hometown, making just 5 of his 18 field goal attempts. Jordan Crawford had a similarly difficult night, shooting just 5-of-15 from the field.
Rebounding also proved to be an issue for the Wizards, as the Clippers won the board battle 51-36 and recorded 19 offensive rebounds to Washington's 10.
The Wizards return to action Friday night when they face the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Game time is at 9:00 p.m.