‘Twas the night after Christmas, when all through Salt Lake, Paul Pierce was stirring, and bringing down the house.

The Truth started his Saturday night with a terrific driving dunk, and he finished with 20 points off 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range to propel the Los Angeles Clippers to a 109-104 victory over the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

“There’s a lot of things I can still do,” said The Truth. “When I’m given the opportunity, playing within the offense. I’m not the go-to scorer I was years back where they would give it to me in isolation. I do a good job really playing off our stars pretty much and that’s what I was able to do today. I’m out there with J.J. and Chris Paul and D.J. and they’re going to take most of the attention and I was able to take advantage of it.”

The Clips needed ever bucket from the 38-year old. Los Angeles was playing its first game without leading scorer and star power forward Blake Griffin. The All-Star suffered a partially torn left quadriceps tendon and is expected to miss at least two weeks.

With Griffin gone, Paul stepped up off the bench and played 27 invaluable minutes. His 20 points were second only to J.J. Redick, who also went 5-of-7 from three-point land and totaled 25 on the night. Afterward, No. 34 said the Clips will need more from himself, Redick and others while Griffin is sidelined.

“It’s just good to get a win, especially without one of our leaders and go-to scorers out there and the second game of the road trip,” Paul said. “It’s not going to get any easier, so it was good to get the win. It’s not just going to take me, it’s going to take a number of guys to fill his role. He’s an All-Star, he’s an MVP candidate, so it’s going to take a number of guys.”

Coming off a Christmas night victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clips were a bit slow out of the gates. Gordon Hayward powered the Jazz, who were also without their star power forward, Derrick Favors, with 28 points on the night. Hayward had six in the first to give the Jazz a 26-18 lead.

However, Paul tried to provide a spark early. With four minutes to go in the first, he caught the Utah defense sleeping. He took a pass up top from Chris Paul on the inbound, and he sprinted down a wide-open lane and threw down an emphatic one-handed slam.

He began to heat up even more in the second. Early in the quarter, Pierce dropped one of his two assists on the night down to Wesley Johnson, who buried a baseline jumper. Johnson re-gifted back to Paul on the following possession, sending it down to the corner, where No. 34 knocked down a three to cut the Jazz lead to four.

L.A. shot 55.6 percent in the second quarter and forced six Utah turnovers, but the lead still stood at five at the half. The Jazz shot 68.8 percent and forced five turnovers of their own to lead 53-48 at the half.

But in the locker room, head coach Doc Rivers made a bit of an adjustment, and the Clipper offense took off. PP and Redick combined to shoot 6-of-7 from three-point range for 11 points each.

“In the third quarter, having Paul in there just gave us spacing,” Rivers revealed. “I thought Josh played well. We just didn’t have space with him and Luc (Mbah a Moute). By putting Paul on the floor, it gave us space.”

Paul hit the first bucket out of the break, a three from the right wing. He hit from the left wing shortly thereafter to cut the deficit down to one, but the Jazz briefly fought back, pushing the lead to six. But then, Paul and J.J. took over.

With the score 64-58, a DeAndre Jordan dunk started the rally, and Paul kept it going with a trifecta from the right wing to cut the lead to one. Then Redick caught fire. The Duke product hit three consecutive three-pointers to make it a 12-0 Los Angeles run. The Clippers led by as much as 10 in the third, though the Jazz went on a run of their own to cut it down to two, 79-77, going into the fourth.

Los Angeles Clippers v Utah Jazz

Throughout the fourth, it looked like the Jazz might seize control on their home floor. Behind a combined 18 points from Hayward and Rodney Hood, Utah took a four-point lead with five minutes to go.

But then, CP3 and DeAndre brought the Clips back. Chris Paul dished to Jordan on an alley-oop, then seconds later off his own steal on the defensive end drove to the rack for the go-ahead layup.

Shortly thereafter, Redick canned two threes to offset a layup by Hood and a three-pointer by Joe Ingles. Hayward hit a fadeaway jumper to cut the L.A. lead to two, 102-100, with 46 seconds to go, but then, The Truth delivered a crushing blow to the home team’s rally.

Pierce slipped away from the Jazz defense and found space on the right wing. CP3 found the unguarded veteran and set him up for a wide-open three-pointer that gave the Clips a five-point advantage with 28 seconds left.

“It’s great to see Paul Pierce hit big shots,” Redick said. “That’s why we brought him here.”

Los Angeles Clippers v Utah Jazz

CP3 and Redick went 4-for-4 down the stretch from the free-throw line to close it out. The Truth finished with his first 20-point output in a Clippers uniform. The Los Angeles head coach was glad to see his veteran find a rhythm.

“I think part of it is on me as much as it is on him and I’ve been saying that all year,” Rivers said. “But it has to help his confidence and help him get in better rhythm with our guys.”

NEXT UP

The Clippers (18-13) will now head to the East Coast on Monday to take on Paul’s former team, the Washington Wizards (14-14).

The game comes as the middle piece of a five-game road trip. With Griffin still sidelined, the Clips could lead on The Truth once again to power them through this tough stretch.

This is Paul’s first meeting with the Wiz since helping the D.C. squad advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. The Wizards have struggled a bit to find their way since The Truth’s departure, but they’ve hit their stride lately. They’ll welcome Paul and Co. into town on a four-game win streak.

Tipoff at the Verizon Center is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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