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SALT LAKE CITY -- Life without Blake Griffin might not be as difficult as expected for the Los Angeles Clippers. On Saturday night, they figured out a solid formula for compensating for the injured all-star forward. Buoyed by hot 3-point shooting in the second half, the Clippers outlasted the Utah Jazz for a 109-104 victory.
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Los Angeles shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from 3-point range for the game.
Guard J.J. Redick scored 25 points and forward Paul Pierce added 20 to lead the Clippers. They combined to make 10 of 12 3-pointers -- and all but one of those came in the second half.
"Their defense was really good in the first half in terms of limiting our threes," Redick said. "We kind of figured out how to get open. Playing with Blake, we have so many sets we run that basically require Blake Griffin to be on the court -- especially that starting group. We were kind of figuring it out on the fly in the first half."
Guard Chris Paul scored 19 points and center DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers (18-13), who won their second straight game after losing three in a row.
It was the Clippers' first game without Griffin, who did not travel with the team after suffering a partially torn left quadriceps tendon against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. Griffin is expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks. He is averaging a team-high 23.2 points per game along with 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
"You're not going to replace Blake -- and no one is -- so everyone has to pitch in," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
Forward Gordon Hayward scored 28 points and guard Rodney Hood added 15 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Jazz (12-16) from suffering a second straight loss.
The Jazz had advantages in points in the paint (44-30), second-chance points (15-11) and rebounds (36-34) but could not overcome what Los Angeles was able to do on the perimeter.
"Size didn't hurt us," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "It was the communication."
Guard Raul Neto had back-to-back baskets to fuel a 9-0 spurt that put the Jazz up 12-4 early in the first quarter. Utah pushed that margin to 10 points three times during the quarter, the final time on a jumper from center Jeff Withey that gave the Jazz a 26-16 lead.
The Clippers chipped away during the second quarter. Los Angeles cut the deficit to four points, making it 36-32 on three free throws from guard Jamal Crawford.
The Clippers trimmed the lead to four three more times in the quarter on a dunk and a layup from Jordan and two free throws from Paul that made it 51-47 with 1:04 remaining before halftime.
Things didn't change until Rivers made a halftime adjustment and decided to start Pierce in the second half in place of Josh Smith. Pierce and Redick each had 11 points in the third quarter and it seemed to turn the Clippers around.
"I'm not the go-to scorer I was (a few) years back where you give it to me in isolation," Pierce said. "I do a good job of playing off our stars. That's what I was able to do today. I was out there with J.J. and Chris Paul and D.J. They're going to take most of the attention. I was able to take advantage of it."
Paul briefly tied it at 53 with a jumper early in the third quarter. Hood made a jumper and then Neto turned a steal into a layup to put Utah back in front.
The Clippers finally charged ahead 72-64 later in the quarter when Redick buried three consecutive 3-pointers to punctuate an 14-0 run.
The Jazz rallied before the end of the quarter. Guards Trey Burke and Joe Ingles each made 3-pointers to help Utah close the quarter on a 7-0 run and cut its deficit to 79-77.
Hood drained a 3-pointer to put the Jazz back ahead 88-85 with 5:26 left in the fourth quarter. The Clippers retook the lead for good on a floater from Paul with 2:47 remaining.
Redick and Pierce made sure Utah wouldn't come back when they combined for three 3-pointers in a minute to put Los Angeles up 105-100 with 29 seconds left.
"We have got to be better," Hayward said. "There were too many times where they were getting open 3s because of miscommunication. I thought it was just all on the defensive end."
NOTES: Jazz PF Derrick Favors did not play, sitting out with back spasms. Favors has averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 26 games this season. ... The Clippers have won 14 of their last 15 games with the Jazz and are 1-1 this season. It is the most successful 15-game stretch against Utah in franchise history. ... Utah G Joe Ingles scored a season-high 14 points. ... Clippers center DeAndre Jordan posted his 16th double-double of the season.
