Rihanna to the People's Choice Awards -- Screw This, I'll Be Across the Street

Rihanna totally blew off the People's Choice Awards in L.A. last night ... TO GO TO A CLIPPERS GAME ... (bet you didn't think you'd hear that 5 years ago).

And ... to add salt to the wound ... the game was right across the street.

We don't blame her -- the game was incredible ... with the Clips overtaking the Heat in overtime (suck it, LeBron) ... but enough about that ...

Point is, Rihanna actually won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite R&B Artist" -- but did she violate some unspoken code of ethics by skipping out on the show ... just to chill?

No. Because the "People's Choice Awards" are stupid.

Now here's a video of Blake Griffin dunking all over Miami last night.