SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It had all the appearances of an easy victory in the first half, then turned out to be anything but that. A potential rout turned into a nail-biter.

For the Los Angeles Clippers, that's just not good enough these days.

"It's a win," Chris Paul said after the Clippers survived a 121-115 encounter with the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. "But we expect a lot more from each other."

The Clippers (10-2) used 29 points from Blake Griffin, 26 points from J.J. Redick and 12 assists by Paul to eke out their sixth road win without a loss this season. They also won for the eight consecutive time in Sacramento.

But the evening didn't turn out to be quite the lark it appeared in the first half, when the Clippers raced out to a 40-point first quarter en route to a 73-54 halftime advantage. They maintained that edge through the third quarter and led by 20 early in the fourth, before sleep-walking through the final 12 minutes and finding the Kings on their heels down the stretch.

"That was more us," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "I mean, give (the Kings) credit. They went small, they got more pace into the game. They basically scored everytime down the floor, and offensively we went into a North Carolina four-quarter stall it felt like. Listen, you're always happy to win the game, but we want to be a better version of ourselves than that."

Forward DeMarcus Cousins finished with a season-best 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, but the Kings (4-9) once again were unable to overcome a poor effort by their starting five and lost their fourth straight.

They got as close as 117-115 on Matt Barnes' free throw with 2:04 left. But DeAndre Jordan answered with a dunk off Paul's alley-oop pass from the top of the key, and Paul canned two of three free throws in the final 38.5 seconds left for Los Angeles.

"We didn't come out with urgency once again," Cousins said. "We've got to show some pride, some heart. ... We've got to start bringing a complete game."

Sacramento coach Dave Joerger hinted after the game that changes could be in store for the Kings, after their starters were victimized by a horrible beginning for the third consecutive contest. The Kings allowed a season-worst 40 points in the opening quarter, allowing the Clippers to shoot 70 percent (14-for-20) from the floor. Los Angeles added 33 more points in the second quarter on 12-for-17 shooting.

Redick was at his deadliest in those opening 24 minutes, firing away from outside the arc. The 11th-season veteran knocked down all 6 of his 3-point attempts before halftime, helping the Clippers build a 26-point lead and extending to 69 the NBA's longest active streak of consecutive games with at least one. His streak is the seventh-longest in NBA history.

"J.J. got going, and the guys kept doing anything they could to get him the ball," Rivers said. "That's the spirit you have to play with, and we played with it in the first half. It was beautiful basketball in the first half."

The second half did not look nearly so good. The Kings scored 61 points after intermission and made 17 of their 36 shots.

But Paul steadied the Clippers just when it looked like they might let the contest slip away. His pass from the top of the key to Jordan for a dunk made it 119-115 lead with 1:36 left. He also finished with 11 points and canned a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 4:39 left in the final quarter that stopped a 9-0 Sacramento run.

Jordan finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Austin Rivers added 12 for the Clippers.

Ty Lawson finished with 18 points for Sacramento and made 7 of 10 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer with 2:23 left that pulled the Kings within 117-11. Lawson has made 12 of 22 over the past four games after an 0-for-15 slump.

"I've been working on my shot," Lawson said. "It's important that the team knows that I can knock down the 3's when they pass it out of the double team."

Collison added 16 points, and Matt Barnes had 15 points for the Kings.

NOTES: The Los Angeles Times reported that former Clippers owner Donald Sterling and the NBA have settled their legal battle stemming from his $2 billion sale of the team. The NBA banned Sterling for life in 2014 after racist statements he made became public. ... Kings coach Dave Joerger kept his starting five -- G's Ty Lawson and Aaron Afflalo; F's Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins and C Kosta Koufos -- together despite speculation he might shake things up. Those five have started 11 of Sacramento's first 13 games this season. ... Clipper G Chris Paul revealed to Los Angeles media outlets that he had Lasik surgery to correct his vision in the offseason. Paul, in his 12th season, is shooting a career-best 46 percent from 3-point range. ... The Kings recalled rookie C George Papagiannis, after he played three games for the Reno Bighorns of the Developmental League. Papagiannis, traded by Phoenix to Sacramento after the Suns picked him 13th overall, played six minutes at Milwaukee and scored two points in a blowout loss Nov. 5 in his only NBA game.