THE Los Angeles Clippers gunned down a furious late rally and survived the Oklahoma City Thunder’s onslaught from beyond the arc to come away with a 110-108 win at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday (Saturday, Manila time).
The Clippers led by as much as 11 near the end of the third, but OKC mounted a late run with eight unanswered points to tie the game at 104 with 1:34 to go.
Jamal Crawford sank his third triple of the game to give Clippers breathing room, 109-104, at 0:48 mark, before Russell Westbrook led another run, scoring four straight points to keep OKC within reach. Crawford split his charities on the next play but the Clippers came out on top after Westbrook’s three-pointer to possibly win the game sailed wide.
The Clippers, led by Blake Griffin’s 25 points, extended their win streak to five and improved their league-leading record to 8-1. Crawford added 19 points, 13 after halftime. Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan each had double-doubles as the former finished with 17 markers and 10 assists, while the latter chipped in 12 points and 13 boards.
OKC lost its second straight game and fell to 6-3 despite knocking down a team-record 16 triples. Westbrook led the way with 29 points, with three triples, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis each knocked down four shots from deep and finished with 18 and 12 points, respectively.
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