Clippers fall to Hawks, 109-102

ATLANTA -- Blake Griffin finished with 36 points and teammate Chris Paul added 34 points and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Clippers from falling to the Atlanta Hawks, 109-102, at Philips Arena on Tuesday.

The Clippers are now tied at 40-25 with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings, the team they will face in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The Clippers have to defeat the New York Knicks on Wednesday night in their regular-season finale at Madison Square Garden to get the home-court advantage over Memphis.

Because the Clippers won the season-series, 2-1, over the Grizzlies, L.A. would get home court over Memphis in the playoffs even if the two teams finish the season with the same record. Memphis finishes at home against the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.

It also means the Clippers fall one game behind the third-place Lakers, who have won the Pacific Division and will play Sacramento on Thursday night. The Lakers won the season-series, 2-1, over the Clippers.

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