NBA Game Summary - Portland at LA Clippers
Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and nine rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers rallied for a 98-93 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Blazers stormed back from a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes left in regulation and Nicolas Batum took over in the final minute of the extra session.
Aldridge threw down an alley-oop pass from Batum to break a 93-93 tie with 59 ticks to go and Batum blocked J.J. Redick on a drive to the hoop at the other end. The Frenchman then sealed the outcome with a straightaway triple with 21.1 ticks left.
Batum finished with 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Damian Lillard missed his first 12 shots from the field before tallying his first basket with 3:04 to go in OT.
Lillard posted just five points, but pulled down a career-high 18 boards for the Blazers, who have won four straight games.
Chris Paul tallied 36 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, Redick netted 26 points and DeAndre Jordan pulled down 19 boards for Los Angeles, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
"We made a lot of mistakes down the stretch. We gave them two 3s at the end that shouldn't have happened," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
Paul had scored 10 straight points, with two free throws staking the Clippers to an 85-75 advantage with 2:53 remaining in regulation.
Portland, though, closed the frame on a 12-2 run to send the game into overtime.
It was able to climb back in it after employing the "Hack-A-Shaq" fouling strategy on Jordan, who missed six straight from the stripe.
After Redick and Arron Afflalo traded baskets inside of a minute, Redick was off the mark on a foul line jumper with 33.9 seconds to play. Redick then gambled for a steal and Batum, who was left wide open along the left wing, potted the 3-pointer to tie the game at 87-87 with 26.1 seconds to go.
"I was surprised to be wide open to tie the game. We found a way to make big plays at the end," Batum said.
Earlier, Lillard was fouled at the first quarter buzzer and sunk both free throws to stake the Blazers to a 28-24 advantage heading into the second. The Clippers, though, outscored them 24-18 in the second and led 48-46 at the break.
A 15-5 run helped them build a double-digit lead in the third. Paul sunk a pair of free throws to cap the surge and give LA a 63-53 margin midway through the period.
Portland, however, closed the stanza on an 11-2 burst to get within 68-66 after three.
After Chris Kaman tied the game at 68-68 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Clippers used a 9-2 spurt to go back ahead.
Jordan threw down an emphatic alley-oop down the middle of the lane off a Paul lob to jumpstart the surge. Hedo Turkoglu nailed a 3-pointer before a Paul jumper capped the flurry for a 77-70 LA advantage with 8:01 remaining.