Clippers praise DeAndre Jordan’s defense in win over Hornets

DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the Clippers’ 113-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. He also held Al Jefferson, who averages 20.7 points a game, to 16.

After the win, Jordan’s teammates were singing his praises on the defensive end.

“Al [Jefferson] scored a couple of times in the first half, and I hear him getting down on himself,” Blake Griffin said of Jordan. “I’m like, ‘They throw it to him all the time, and he had 10 points at half and finished with 14.’”

The Clippers think that Jordan has been passed over for defensive awards, after he didn’t win defensive player of the year last season or even make the all-defensive team.

Griffin apparently thinks that Jordan undersells himself as well.

“I just don’t think he understands his impact unless he’s actually blocking every single shot -- because sometimes, he does do that,” Griffin said.

“When you have a game like that where you block every shot, not every shot, but are playing at such a high level defensively on a guy like Al Jefferson who does get some shots off, he thinks it’s a problem. But it’s not. He’s making it tough for him. He’s making it tough for everybody else, too.”

Jordan is currently the fifth top rebounder in the league, averaging 11.5 a game. He ranks sixth in blocked shots, with 2.2 a game.