Thunder storms past Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (right) knocks the ball away from Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant in the second quarter of the Thunder’s 105-104 victory Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. Durant scored 27 points.
Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (right) knocks the ball away from Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant in the second quarter of the Thunder’s 105-104 victory Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. Durant scored 27 points.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 38 points and made three free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 50 seconds to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-104 on Tuesday night to go up 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals.

Westbrook was fouled by Chris Paul while shooting a three-pointer with the Thunder trailing by two. After his free throws, Paul drove to the hoop, but Reggie Jackson stole the ball from him, and time expired.

Kevin Durant scored 10 of his 27 points in the final 3:23 for the Thunder.

Blake Griff in had 24 points and 17 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 19 points and Paul had 17 points and 14 assists for the Clippers.

The Thunder can clinch the series Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Clippers took a 101-88 lead in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Crawford before Durant finally got involved. He hit a three-pointer with 3:23 remaining on his first shot of the quarter, then drained two free throws to cut the Clippers’ lead to 101-95.

A layup by Jackson cut Los Angeles’ lead to four.

Griffin made the first of two free throws, and Glen Davis grabbed the rebound of the second. Paul’s midrange jumper on the extra possession gave the Clippers a 104-97 edge with 49 seconds to play.

Durant made a three-pointer, then Crawford missed in close before Durant made a layup with 17 seconds left. Westbrook stole the ball, and in a scramble, the Thunder got possession with 11.3 seconds to play, setting up Westbrook’s play.

The Thunder fell behind by 15 points in the first quarter but rallied in the second as foul trouble set in for the Clippers. Oklahoma City took a 39-38 lead on a dunk by Steven Adams, but the Clippers regained control.

Paul made a three-pointer to give the Thunder a 55-45 lead with just over two minutes left in the second quarter. The Thunder cut their deficit to three before J.J. Redick drained a three-pointer as time expired in the first half.

The Clippers committed 18 fouls in the first half. Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Davis, the team’s primary inside players, all had three fouls at the break.

The Thunder started the second half by taking mostly jumpers, but eventually, they started driving and the fouls again started piling up for the Clippers. Jordan committed his fifth with 4:56 left in the third quarter and Davis committed his fifth with 1:22 left in the period.

The Clippers held Durant to 3-for-17 shooting in the first three quarters and took an 86-80 lead into the fourth.

WIZARDS 102, PACERS 79

INDIANAPOLIS — Marcin Gortat had 31 points and 16 rebounds, John Wall scored 27 points and the Washington Wizards rode a 39-rebound advantage to a rout of Indiana, cutting the Pacers’ lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to 3-2.

Washington can even the series at home on Thursday in Game 6.

It was a stunning turnaround for a team that had lost the last three. But with Gortat matching a career high in points and posting a playoff career high in rebounds, Washington held a 62-23 rebounding edge.

“I was a decoy in Game 3 and Game 4,” the 30-year-old Polish native said. “(Tuesday) was the time for me to perform. At some point in the second half, it was just fun to be in the game.”

David West scored 17 points for Indiana.

“We didn’t show up to play. I don’t know if we just thought we were going to come in here and these guys were going to roll over or what. They just played at a different level than we did all night,” West said after Indiana’s second-worst home playoff loss in its NBA history.

Washington used a 15-6 run to take a 45-38 halftime lead, extended the margin to 24 after three and to as much as 30 in the fourth.

Washington denied the top-seeded Pacers a spot in the conference finals and improved to 4-2 on the road in this year’s playoffs. They are just 1-3 at home.

Indiana’s couldn’t get enough stops because of its rebounding problems, and it didn’t take long to see it play out.

Gortat and Wall combined for eight of the Wizards’ first 10 points, and they were strong enough inside to fend off a brief Indiana scoring flurry to make it 25-19 after one.

MONDAY’S LATE GAME

BLAZERS 103, SPURS 92

PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard scored 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers staved off elimination in the Western Conference semifinals with a 103-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Nicolas Batum had 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to cut San Antonio’s advantage in the series to 3-1. Portland held Tony Parker to 14 points after he had scored 29 points or more in three of his last four playoff games. Coach Gregg Popovich sat Parker and Tim Duncan after Portland built a 20-point lead in the final quarter.

The Spurs are looking to head to the conference finals for the third straight season.

Game 5 is tonight in San Antonio.

No team has ever lost a seven-game NBA playoff series after going up 3-0. The Blazers were the last team to take a series to seven games after dropping the first three. Portland rebounded in the first round against Dallas in 2003 but ultimately lost the first-round series’ deciding game.

The Blazers had been hurt by the loss of backup point guard Mo Williams to a groin injury for the past two games. Williams had provided both energy and points off the bench all season in relief of Damian Lillard.

Portland got just six points off the bench in Game 3, but Will Barton provided a spark with 17 points on Monday night.

Sports on 05/14/2014

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