Arash Markazi, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Clippers 118, Lakers 111: Griffin goes for 39

LOS ANGELES -- After three consecutive blowout wins for the Los Angeles Clippers against their in-arena rivals the Los Angeles Lakers last season, they began this season with a surprising nail-biter that the Clippers finally won 118-111.

Play of the game: With the Clippers hanging on to a 112-111 lead with 27 seconds left, Kobe Bryant missed a 17-foot jumper, Blake Griffin got the rebound and was fouled by Bryant. After Griffin made both his free throws, Bryant missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and J.J. Redick got the rebound and put the game away with two more free throws.

Key word of the night: "Hardcore." That was the word new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer continued to preach about his team as soon as he took over. They were going to do everything hardcore and be relentless. Through the first two games of the season, however, the Clippers have not totally embraced the mantra. Against an eight-man Oklahoma City team playing without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Clippers needed to hang on for a 93-90 win on Thursday. And against a Lakers team that lost its first two games by an average of 19 points and is expected to be one of the worst teams in the league, they had to come back for a seven-point win after being up by as many as 15 in the first quarter.

Stat of the night: For a team that is not very good at shooting 3-pointers, the Clippers sure have fallen in love with the long ball. In Thursday night's win over Oklahoma City, the Clippers were 7-for-30 from the beyond the arc and on Friday night against the Lakers they were 12-for-33.

Player of the game: Blake Griffin had 39 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Even more impressive was that he was 11-of-12 from the free throw line and for the second night in a row hit two key free throws to put the Clippers ahead for good.

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