Griffin sinks buzzer-beater as Clippers enjoy perfect start

LOS ANGELES: Blake Griffin hit a three-pointer on the buzzer as the Los Angeles Clippers maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 104-103 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.

The Clippers’ first road win of the 2017 campaign came after Griffin made a quick dribble and shot from just outside the arc to silence the crowd at Portland’s Moda Center.

It capped a superb night for Griffin, one of five Clippers players to break double-digits in a fine all-round offensive display.

Griffin finished with 25 points while Center DeAndre Jordan made 18 rebounds alongside seven points.

“Honestly, I was just trying to get two (points),” Griffin said of his game-winning the final play.

“I was looking to see if we could get something easy or a quick layup. I was just trying to get a clean shot. But as time ticked away, I just didn’t think I could get to the rim in time. I just kind of took what was there.”

The Clippers moved to 4-0 with the win as the Blazers fell to 3-2.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Kyrie Irving and Al Horford propelled the Boston Celtics to their third straight victory with a 96-89 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

In Memphis, center Marc Gasol was the star as the Memphis Grizzlies held off a rally by the Dallas Mavericks to win 96-91 at FedExForum.

Gasol scored 25 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lay the foundation for a nail-biting win in Memphis. Point guard Mike Conley added 22 points and four assists as the Grizzlies improved to 4-1.

In Chicago, the Bulls edged the Atlanta Hawks 91-86 after double digit contributions from Robin Lopez and David Nwaba.

Lopez scored 16 points while Nwaba came off the bench to 15 points with 11 rebounds in a hardfought first win of the season for the Bulls.