Westbrook’s 32 carries Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 32 points in a triple-double, and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Houston Rockets 115-113 on Friday night to cut their deficit to 2-1 in the firstround Western Conference playoff series.
James Harden scored 44 points for Houston, but he missed a three-pointer that could have won the game just before time expired.
Westbrook also had 13 rebounds and 11 assists. It was his second consecutive triple-double and the seventh playoff triple-double of his career. Taj Gibson added 20 points and Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo each scored 12 for the Thunder, who shot 55 percent from the field.
The Thunder blew a double-digit lead in the second half of Game 2, and barely hung on this time. They host Game 4 on Sunday.
Lou Williams scored 22 points and Ryan Anderson added 18 for the Rockets.
The Thunder led 65-58 at halftime behind 62.2 percent shooting. Westbrook had 14 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds at the break, and he had more offensive help than in the previous two games.
Houston scored the first nine points of the second half, including six from Harden, to go up 67-65.
The Thunder regained momentum, and back-to-back three-pointers by Roberson and Alex Abrines put the Thunder ahead 86-76 with 3:30 to play in the third quarter. Oklahoma City took a 9383 lead into the fourth.
Houston closed the gap throughout the final period. Harden was fouled with 8.8 seconds left, and he made two free throws to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 114-113. Westbrook went to the line with 8.4 seconds to play and missed one of the two free throws, giving the Rockets a chance before Harden’s final miss.
For the Rockets, Harden had five assists and four turnovers in the first quarter. He had one assist the rest of the game. Patrick Beverley (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished with one point on 0-for-6 shooting and fouled out.
Houston shot 50 percent in the first half but committed 10 turnovers, which led to 16 points for the Thunder. HOUSTON (113) Ariza 2-9 3-3 7, Anderson 8-14 0-0 18, Capela 2-5 1-3 5, Beverley 0-6 1-2 1, Harden 11-21 18-18 44, Hilario 1-2 2-4 4, L.Williams 9-15 1-2 22, Gordon 5-11 1-1 12. Totals 38-83 27-33 113. OKLAHOMA CITY (115) Gibson 10-13 0-0 20, Adams 2-5 0-0 4, Westbrook 11-24 10-14 32, Roberson 5-8 0-5 12, Oladipo 5-8 0-0 12, McDermott 2-4 0-0 6, Grant 3-5 0-0 6, Kanter 4-8 2-2 10, Cole 2-3 0-0 5, Abrines 2-5 2-2 8. Totals 46-83 14-23 115. Houston ............ 25 33 25 30 — 113 Oklahoma City ....34 31 28 22 — 115 3-Point Goals— Houston 10-35 (Harden 4-12, 0-3, Ariza 0-4), Oklahoma City 9-19 (Roberson 2-3, Oladipo 2-3, McDermott 2-4, Abrines 2-5, Cole 1-2, Westbrook 0-1, Grant 0-1). Fouled Out— Beverley.
Rebounds— Houston 42 (Ariza 8), Oklahoma City 40 (Westbrook 13). Assists— Houston 10 (Harden 6), Oklahoma City 24 (Westbrook 11). Total Fouls— Houston 24, Oklahoma City 21. Technicals— Gibson.
Attendance— 18,203 (18,203).
CLIPPERS 111, JAZZ 106
SALT LAKE CITY — Chris Paul scored 34 points and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied for a victory over the Utah Jazz to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
The Jazz led most of the game before Paul took over in the fourth quarter and powered a 15-0 run that gave the Clippers a 103-96 lead with 2:09 remaining. Utah never led again.
The victory negated a spectacular night from Gordon Hayward, who scored a career-high 40 points. But Paul simply dominated the fourth quarter, scoring nine consecutive himself during the run and getting wherever he wanted on the floor. He iced the game with a pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds
remaining and finished with seven rebounds and 10 assists.
DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who played without the injured Blake Griffin in the second half.
Griffin, a five-time All-Star, left the game with 3:18 remaining in the second quarter after landing awkwardly following a transition layup. He had X-rays at the arena that were negative and it was determined he had a bruised right big toe. Marreese Speights started the second half in Griffin’s place.
LA CLIPPERS (111) Mbah a Moute 6-9 2-4 15, Griffin 5-9 0-0 11, Jordan 5-7 7-14 17, Paul 12-22 8-8 34, Redick 2-5 3-4 8, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, W.Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Speights 3-6 1-2 8, Felton 4-6 0-0 9, Crawford 4-10 1-1 9. Totals 41-75 22-33 111. UTAH (106) Ingles 3-8 0-1 9, Hayward 13-21 10-11 40, Favors 1-3 0-2 2, Diaw 0-1 3-4 3, Hill 9-15 4-6 26, J.Johnson 6-13 2-2 15, Mack 0-2 0-0 0, Neto 2-2 0-0 5, Hood 2-4 1-3 6. Totals 36-69 20-29 106. LA Clippers ........ 21 28 33 29 — 111 Utah................. 34 24 26 22 — 106
3-Point Goals— LA Clippers 7-19 (Paul 2-5, Griffin 1-1, Felton 1-1, Mbah a Moute 1-2, Redick 1-3, Speights 1-4, Pierce 0-1, Crawford 0-2), Utah 14-34 (Hill 4-6, Hayward 4-8, Ingles 3-8, Neto 1-1, Hood 1-3, J.Johnson 1-6, Diaw 0-1, Mack 0-1). Fouled
Out— None. Rebounds— LA Clippers 41 (Jordan 13), Utah 27 (Hayward 8). Assists— LA Clippers 16 (Paul 10), Utah 16 (Ingles 5). Total Fouls— LA Clippers 20, Utah 26. Technicals— Utah coach Quin Snyder. Attendance— 19,911 (19,911).