NEW ORLEANS -- Clippers forward Blake Griffin praised the way Los Angeles finished off a 10-day trip that closed with games on the shores of lakes Erie and Pontchartrain on back-to-back nights.Griffin had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists, and the Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 114-96 on Friday night.The dominant effort came one night after an equally convincing 113-94 triumph at Cleveland on Thursday night -- with a flight from the United States northern border to the Gulf Coast in between, touching down in the Big Easy around 2 a.m. local time.Its tough, but the end of a road trip can go one of two ways, Griffin said. You can either be like, `All right, lets finish this out on a good note and get home and get this over with, or you can completely lose focus and come in and not play the way you want, and I thought we did the first.Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and Luc Mbah a Moute had 15 points for Los Angeles.Anthony Davis hurt his right shoulder late in the first quarter but played through it, scoring 21 points for New Orleans. ETwaun Moore scored 15 points and Terrence Jones had 14 for the Pelicans, who have lost three of four and saw their home winning streak snapped at five.The Clippers were making the right plays, Davis said. We were living with Blake and Mbah a Moute taking jumpers and they made them.The Clippers made 10 3-pointers, with Mbah a Moute hitting three, Crawford hitting two and even Griffin hitting one from the left corner. The Pelicans, by contrast, were 5 of 20 from long range.TIP-INSClippers: Los Angeles wound up 3-3 on its road swing that began in Dallas on Nov. 23. ... Coach Doc Rivers gave starting shooting guard J.J. Redick, the teams third-leading scorer (16 points per game), the night off. Rivers has been periodically resting starters this season. Griffin had sat out Tuesday night at Brooklyn. Its kind of a scientific thing were doing, Griffin said. ... Austin Rivers, who was drafted 10th overall by New Orleans in 2012 and traded in January 2015, missed eight of nine shots and finished with two points. ... Paul was called for a Flagrant-1 foul when he grabbed Jones shoulder from behind to stop a breakaway layup.Pelicans: Center Alexis Ajinca played 11 minutes, his most in eight games. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry had not played Ajinca in six of New Orleans previous seven games, and the 7-footer saw only 4 minutes last Sunday at Dallas. Against the Clippers, Ajinca had two points and three rebounds. ... First-round draft choice Buddy Hield played just the final 3 minutes, hitting both shots he attempted for four points.DEFENSIVE EFFORTAfter a Pelicans shot-clock violation, the Clippers bench was on its feet, roaring in approval of their teammates defensive effort.A lot of times you see guys up cheering for big plays on the offensive end, Griffin said. Its nice when your team is excited about those little things.In addition to holding Davis about 10 points below his scoring average, the Clippers combined for to block seven shots, including two each by Griffin, Mbah a Moute and DeAndre Jordan. Los Angeles had seven steals and outrebounded New Orleans 46-41.It started on defense, and I feel like we always say that when we have a big win but its so true, Griffin said.PIVOTAL RUNLos Angeles opened a 15-point lead in the third quarter, when Griffin scored 11 points. Griffin hit three 19-foot jumpers, another from 17 feet and a finger roll during a pivotal 17-5 surge. Paul assisted on three of those baskets.Paul pretty much controlled the whole game after halftime, Gentry said. They were kind of running freely and shooting the ball freely and taking it wherever they wanted to.Paul said he noticed Griffin was in rhythm early, and if hes shooting it like that, the other team is in trouble.Indeed, New Orleans struggled to recover after that, getting no closer than 10 points on Davis short basket as he was fouled by Brandon Bass with 7:14 left. Los Angeles, which shot 51.1 percent (45 of 88), then rebuilt its lead to 20 in the late stages of the game.UP NEXTClippers: Host Indiana on Sunday.Pelicans: Visit Oklahoma City on Sunday. Cheap College Jerseys China . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Cheap NCAA Jerseys .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. http://www.cheapncaajerseysauthentic.com/ . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. Cheap NCAA Football Jerseys . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. NEW ORLEANS -- The Latest on the trial of Cardell Hayes, charged with second-degree murder in the April 9 shooting death of retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith (all times local):1:10 p.m.Former New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas is telling jurors about the night he saw former Saints defensive captain Will Smith shot to death following an argument over traffic.Thomas said Wednesday he thought an argument between Cardell Hayes and Smith had subsided when he heard gunfire. He said he turned to see Hayes pointing a gun, then saw Hayes fire more shots into Smiths SUV. Thomas said he approached the SUV, looked through the passenger window and saw Smith slumped over the steering wheel.Under cross examination from Hayes lawyer, Thomas insisted he is not leaving out details or embellishing the story to preserve his former teammates public image.The defense says Hayes fired because Smith was returning to his SUV to retrieve a loaded gun. Hayes is charged with second-degree murder.---10:10 a.m.A witness to the April killing of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith says she saw Cardell Hayes repeatedly shoot her friend and then look down without remorse at Smiths lifeless body.Rebecca Dooley says she saw Smiths body jolt when Hayes shot him following a heated argument over a traffic dispute.Dooley said she and her husband were riding with Smith and his wife when Hayees Hummer slammed into Smiths SUV.dddddddddddd She said they all got out as their argument became heated, and she witnessed Hayes shoot Smith.Defense attorneys say Smith was the aggressor. But contradicting defense claims, Dooley insisted Wednesday that she never heard Smith threaten to get a gun to match the weapon Hayes was carrying.On cross examination, defense lawyer Jay Daniels is noting apparent inconsistencies between Dooleys testimony and earlier statements to police.---6 a.m.The first witnesses called in the trial of the man who fatally shot retired football star Will Smith included a longtime teammate who choked up as he described their friendship and Smiths widow, who was wounded in the April 9 shooting.Deuce McAllister, a fan favorite during nine seasons as a star running back for the New Orleans Saints, became emotional Tuesday as he testified.Later came Racquel Smith -- struck in the legs by gunfire the night her husband was shot by 29-year-old Cardell Hayes.Hayes faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder in Smiths death. His lawyers insist Hayes fired in self-defense after a car crash led to a heated argument.Racquel Smith insisted that her unarmed husband did nothing to provoke the killing. The trial continues Wednesday. ' ' '