CHICAGO _ Jamal Crawford was back dancing with the basketball Saturday night, his movements in synch with all his other teammates on the Los Angeles Clippers who required some uplifting.
The Clippers were desperately in need of someone to provide all the right moves, to inspire them, and that was Crawford did during their 101-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
Crawford had a game-high 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting, two-for-five on three-pointers.
His 10 points in the third quarter got the Clippers going. That included a three-pointer just before the quarter ended to give the Clippers a nine-point lead.
"I'm a big rhythm guy," Crawford said. "So for me, you can always tell when I'm in rhythm by the way I'm handling the ball. So for me, even if I'm not doing anything or just moving around with the ball in my hands, I get kind of in the game. Then your natural instincts and everything just takes over. You stop thinking. You just hoop."
The Clippers had lost four of their previous five games before the win over the Bulls.
But Crawford had 12 more points in the fourth quarter to make sure the Clippers won the game.
"When he gets going, there's nobody like him, off the bench, scoring wise," Blake Griffin said. "So, him doing what he does best is great for our team."
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers had told his players to own their issues and that winning was the only cure.
"We needed a win," Rivers said. "My pregame speech was, 'Find a way to win.' That was it. So that's good."
Said Crawford: "We knew it. We knew it. But Doc does a great job. He knows the pulse of this team. He knows what to say, when to say it, how to get his message across. We all believe in what's going on and we believe in the big picture here."
Crawford was also good on defense, picking up two steals in the third quarter when the Clippers made some separation.
"Whenever I'm active on defense, I think that helps me kind of get going on offense," Crawford said. "It gets me in the game, so to speak."
Crawford was with his reserves mates of Austin Rivers, Marreese Speights, Raymond Felton and Wesley Johnson that built a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Speights became a defensive stopper for the Clippers, taking a change in the fourth quarter. He then then drove by his man for a dunk, making his teammates leap off the bench again and cheer on the backup center.
When Crawford made 21-foot jumper for a 14-point lead late in the fourth, the Clippers were secure.
"My teammates, they always harp on me being more aggressive," Crawford said. "And Doc, obviously, they always want me to continue to be aggressive, be that weapon, be that threat. I just felt good all day. I've been feeling good. But, we're just trying to figure it out, trying to re-set out second unit a little bit. Now that we got everybody healthy, I'm trying to pick my spots a little bit more."
