Clippers 117, Nuggets 105: Blake Griffin scored 24 points and Chris Paul added 21 points and 10 assists as Los Angeles defeated visiting Denver to set a franchise record with its 57th win.

J.J. Redick had 18 points as the Clippers topped the 56 victories by last season’s squad and remained one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 16 rebounds for Los Angeles, which has won seven of its last nine games and can earn the second spot in the conference playoffs by winning at Portland on Wednesday combined with an Oklahoma City loss to Detroit.

Kenneth Faried scored 21 points and Aaron Brooks added 19 for the Nuggets, who had a three-game winning streak halted. Timofey Mozgov added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, which went 27-of-30 from the free throw line.

The Nuggets battled back from a 23-point third-quarter deficit to pull within 91-86 on Quincy Miller’s basket with 8:44 remaining before the Clippers answered with a 10-2 surge to lead by 13. Denver trailed by eight after two free throws by Brooks with 1:51 to go before Hedo Turkoglu drained a 3-pointer to help Los Angeles seal it.

The Clippers scored the game’s first 13 points, led by as many as 18 in the opening quarter and held a 63-46 halftime lead. The advantage reached 22 points early in the third quarter and Los Angeles led 84-61 midway through the period before Denver closed with a 19-4 push to trail 88-80 entering the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Griffin was assessed his 16th technical foul in the second quarter, which carries with it an automatic one-game suspension that will cause him to miss the regular-season finale against Portland unless the NBA rescinds it prior to tip-off. … Nuggets PG Ty Lawson (ankle) sat out for the fifth straight game. … Los Angeles has topped 100 points in 13 of its last 14 contests.