Top Performers
- Chris Paul
LA Clippers
- FGM-FGA 11-20
- Pts 31
- Rebs 6
- Assists 4
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Chris Paul scored 31 points, including the game-winning shot on a layup with 8.8 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Clippers to a 100-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that kept them in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Paul got past Thunder defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha and squeezed the ball onto the rim past the league's leading shot blocker, Serge Ibaka, to put L.A. ahead.
Kevin Durant missed a 3-pointer that could have won it, hitting the back rim on a shot over Clippers center DeAndre Jordan from the left wing.
Durant led Oklahoma City with 22 points and Russell Westbrook scored 20 on 3-for-14 shooting. The West-leading Thunder have lost four of their last six games.
Blake Griffin added 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles.
The Clippers needed the win to hang on to fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Fifth-place Memphis came into the night a half-game behind L.A. and beat Phoenix.
Paul came up big in the fourth quarter, as he has all season. He scored 11 points in the final period as the Clippers pulled ahead after trailing most of the way. He hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer and a floater along the lane to give L.A. a five-point lead and then the 6-foot point guard restored that edge by tipping in his own miss a few trips later.
After Durant's 3-pointer tied it at 98 with 32 seconds left, Paul drained the shot clock before coming up with the decisive basket - the ball rattling around the rim before falling through.
The first two meetings of the season were nothing alike.
The Clippers won easily on their home court at the end of January, getting one of the season's most memorable dunks from Griffin over Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins and a flurry of 13 3-pointers.
The Thunder responded last month, with Perkins setting the tone by hitting Griffin in the face on a first-quarter foul. Griffin ended up with a career-low seven points and didn't have a single dunk in a blowout loss.
Griffin provided some highlight material in this one, most notably a right-handed slam over Ibaka midway through the third quarter, and he flirted with a triple-double before failing to register an assist in the fourth quarter.
But that's when Paul, playing on the court where he once starred with the relocated New Orleans Hornets, was at his best.
His right-handed runner tied it at 80 before he came out for a brief rest, and Randy Foye's 3-pointer from the right side with 8:35 remaining put L.A. ahead for the first time since it was 6-5 in the opening 4 minutes.
Eric Bledsoe's layup finished off a 15-4 run and bumped it to 87-84, and Oklahoma City could never regain control.
Los Angeles won for the ninth time in its last 11 games - all without top reserve Mo Williams, who is out with a sprained left big toe.
Oklahoma City fell two games behind idle Chicago for the best record in the NBA.
The Thunder started out 6-for-10 from 3-point range and built a 39-28 lead after Derek Fisher's make from the right side with 7:21 before halftime, but then missed 3s on three straight possessions as Los Angeles scored six points in a row to get back in it.
The Clippers got within two late in the first half before Oklahoma City reeled off eight straight points and finished the half with a 55-48 edge.
Notes: A portion of the profits from sales of the sneakers Durant debuted during the game will support the N7 Fund, which awards grants to Native American and Aboriginal grassroots sport and fitness programs for youth. Paul wore dark green sneakers as part of the NBA's Green Week. ... Country singer Toby Keith attended the game and sat next to former Oklahoma basketball player Kevin Bookout. ... The teams play again Monday night at Staples Center.
My Thoughts
Chris Paul does it again game winning shot wow what a game! Chris paul found himself racking up 31 points,6 rebounds,4 assists.Chris is normally the facilitater on the court but tonight his role was to score! score! score! He and Blake Griffin aka the alley-oop city ralleys together to beat what I think is the best team in the NBA right now the okclahoma city thunder. Kevin Durant and russell westbrook couldn't do it tonight they just didn't have the will to pull it out.
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