LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Clippers secured home court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs following their sixth straight win on Monday night.
Blake Griffin had 22 points and 9 rebounds while Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan each had 20 points as the Clippers outlasted the visiting Denver Nuggets, 110-103, at Staples Center.
After trailing 57-54 at the half, the Clippers, buoyed by a partisan crowd of 19,060, outscored the Nuggets 56-46 the rest of the way to win their sixth consecutive assignment.
"One thing I love about this team is we've shown the ability to just close out games. that's good to have," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the contest.
Los Angeles pulled the comeback by shooting 45.1 percent from the field (37 of 82) and 33.3 percent from 3-point range (7 of 21).
The come-from-behind win propelled the Clippers to third place in the Western Conference with a 55-26 record. Depending on how the last few games of the regular season plays out, the Clippers could still climb to the No.2 seed or fall to the No.5 seed.
The Nuggets, who shot just 37.6 percent from the field (38 of 101), got 32 points from Wilson Chandler. Kenneth Faried added 19 points and 17 rebounds for Denver while Randy Foye had 16.
With their 30-51 record, the Nuggets will not make the playoffs.
Photo: DeAndre Jordan throws down the hammer in the Clippers' 110-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night at Staples Center.
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