Dec 11, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin (32) goes to the basket against Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer (5) during the second half at the United Center. The Clippers beat the Bulls 94-89. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Clippers starters were tired of giving “A Tribe Called Bench,” and/or “Lawler’s Law Enforcement Agency,” all the minutes and spotlight. Led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clipper’s top names came out with perhaps their best intensity of the season to grind out a win over the Bulls, both snapping Chicago’s 3-game winning streak, but extending their own unbeaten string to seven games.

Chris Paul had 18 points and 4 assists, with Blake Griffin pouring in 22 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to lead Los Angeles. Caron Butler his three 3-pointers to add nine points, with DeAndre Jordan scoring 7 points to go along with 10 rebounds. And, for a change, the starters handed off leads to their bench.

“I kind of forgot what it was like to play in the fourth quarter,” said Paul, who hadn’t seen late action since Dec. 3 at Utah. “But at the end, we knew we were on the road and we’d have to withstand a run we knew they would make. Our defense kept us in the game.”

It really was the Clippers defense – both from their starters and bench – that ultimately doomed Chicago. Indeed, the Clippers let virtually nothing go unchallenged and were active throughout. After one period the score was only 21-18, with both teams letting nothing go and the referees allowing a physical contest and holding their whistles. Carlos Boozer and Joachim Noah were the Bull’s primary scorers early, with both players feeding off putbacks on offensive rebounds. Boozer finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead Chicago. Noah finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, though this game marked the first time Chicago has lost this season when Boozer and Noah notch double-doubles.

And then there was Blake Griffin.

Chicago simply had no answer to Griffin, who powered his way to the basket for dunks, showed his jump shot with two early buckets, and even hit a 3-pointer, his first of the season in the 2nd quarter.

“Games on the road like this, after we had a little bit of success, six games, coming on the road, you don’t want to have a letdown,” Griffin said. “Chicago’s a tough team. These are the kinds of wins you need.”

With the win, the Clippers have started their four game road trip on a promising note, especially since they will be going into Charlotte on Wednesday to play the Bobcats, who have dropped nine in a row.

The Los Angeles Clippers will take their six game winning streak on the road this week, stopping in Chicago starting tomorrow night, and continuing through Charlotte, Milwaukee, and Detroit before returning home to play the New Orleans Hornets on December 19th.

The Bulls are currently riding a three game winning streak, with an impressive win over the Knicks on Sunday, and occupy first place in the Central Conference at 11-8. Joachim Noah registered a historic 30 points, 23 rebound performance in a win over Detroit last Thursday, and Luol Deng provides a solid 18ppg in his league tops 41.2 minutes per game. The Bulls are very tough, defensively and are 6-5 on their home floor. The Clippers easily defeated the Bulls at Staples back on November 17th, 101-80.

Charlotte seems to have come back to earth after a strong start, battling a seven game losing streak after starting strong at 7-5. While two of those defeats were blowouts at the hands of Oklahoma City and San Antonio, the Bobcats played the NY Knicks tough before falling on a last second jump shot by J.R. Smith in a heart breaker.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is making a strong case for Rookie of the Year with his 10ppg and strong play, overall, while PG Kemba Walker leads the team with just over 17 ppg and 6 assists. The Clippers defeated the Bobcats both in both meetings last season.

Milwaukee sits just behind Chicago in the Central Division at 10-9. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis (traded to the Bucks last season for Andrew Bogut) lead the Bucks with 17 and 18ppg, respectively, and the Clippers will have to contend with outside shooting specialist Mike Dunleavy, who shoots over 40% from 3-point range (a known defensive weakness for the Clippers). The Bucks are still trying to cope with the steep drop in production from Ersan Ilyasova, who signed a 5-year, 40 million dollar contract last summer, but is hitting only 22% of his threes thus far.

The final game of this road trip ends in Detroit, who are 7-15 as of this writing. Detroit is actually quite good, defensively, holding opponents to only 42% shooting (4th in the league); however, the Pistons are definitely challenged when it comes to scoring, ranking 24th in offensive efficiency. Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight lead the team in scoring with only 15 and 14 points per game each, with 32 year old Tyshaun Prince following with just under 13 ppg.

Though we expect tough fight in at least two of these contests (Chicago and Milwaukee), we here at FullyClips are quite confident in a successful journey away from home. The “Lawler’s Law Enforcement Agency” will be the difference and we predict a solid 4-0 road sweep and an 18-6 record before avenging our earlier loss against New Orleans on December 19th back at Staples. Hope to see you all at the game!