NBA – Griffin hits career-high 47 as Clippers cut down Indiana

LOS ANGELES (NBA) - Blake Griffin is making up for lost time.

Having missed his rookie campaign after suffering a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella in the 2009-10 pre-season, an injury that required surgery last January, the 21-year-old Los Angeles Clippers star is having a year NBA fans won't forget.

He looked better than ever on Monday night in scoring a career-high 47 points and pulling down 14 rebounds as the Clippers won against Indiana, 114-107.

Griffin now has 27 consecutive double-doubles, and 33 overall.

The 47 points surpassed the previous high of 46 in the league this season by Golden State's scoring machine, Monta Ellis.

Griffin's Clippers teammates believe they are in the presence of a special player.

"Oh my goodness, he caught a feeling today," point guard Baron Davis said.

"He was unstoppable. We just kept feeding him and he kept producing. That keeps the defense off-balance."

The Clippers had a slow start to the campaign but have reeled off 10 wins in their last 14 games.

At 15-25, an appearance in the play-offs would seem unlikely but then again, few would have predicted the hot streak that LA are currently on.

The victory over Indiana followed a triumph over their cross-town rivals, the two-time defending champions Lakers.

Clippers Nation is also buzzing about the presence of Gordon, a gold-medal winner with Team USA last year at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

He had 23 points for LA while Davis added 14 along with 12 assists.

Lakers bounce back

Phil Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers hit back from their defeat to the Clippers by winning 101-94 against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Lakers, who got 21 points and three blocks from Spain's Pau Gasol, overcame a 32-point, 12-assist effort from Team USA's Russell Westbrook.

Ray Allen had 26 points and all five Boston starters reached double figures in scoring as the Celtics edged Orlando 109-106 in a battle of Eastern Conference heavyweights.

Rajon Rondo had 13 assists to go with his 10 points in the win.

Dwight Howard finished with 33 points and 13 boards for the Magic.

Phoenix travelled to the Big Apple and won 129-121 against their former boss Mike D'Antoni, the coach of the New York Knicks.

Vince Carter poured in 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Suns.

Washington, winless on the road, remained a tough team at home by beating the Utah Jazz, 108-101.

The Wizards improved to 12-8 at home and 12-27 overall.

The Chicago Bulls prevailed 96-84 at Memphis with Team USA's Derrick Rose getting 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for the winners.

It marked the first triple-double in Rose's young career.

Philadelphia needed overtime but finally saw off the visiting Charlotte Bobcats, 96-92.

Team USA world champion Andre Iguodala had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers while France international Boris Diaw had a triple-double for the Cats.

Diaw finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

David West scored 23 points and pulled down 10 boards as the New Orleans Hornets beat the visiting Toronto Raptors, 85-81.

Houston got 19 points and 14 rebounds from Argentina international Luis Scola in a 93-84 triumph over Milwaukee.

Detroit won 103-89 over the struggling Dallas Mavericks, despite a 32-point night from the Mavs' Germany international Dirk Nowitzki.

Atlanta scraped a 100-98 victory against Sacramento, Golden State defeated New Jersey 109-100 and Portland won 113-102 over Minnesota.

FIBA