Lou Williams scored 40 points off the bench and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder 118-110 on Friday night to move into sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference.
Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 34 points and Ivica Zubac added 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won 7 of 9.
Russell Westbrook had 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists before fouling out with 54 seconds left and the Thunder trailing by 3 points. Paul George scored 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting before fouling out with 3:49 left and the Thunder down a point.
Dennis Schroder also scored 15 on just 5-for-20 shooting for Oklahoma City, which fell into sole possession of fourth in the West with its sixth loss in the past 8 games.
Westbrook gave the Thunder their last lead at 104-103 when he converted a 3-point play with 2:30 remaining, but Williams scored 9 points the rest of the way.
Westbrook picked up his fifth foul with 7:37 to go in the third quarter and left the game with the Thunder trailing by 5 points. The Clippers extended their lead to 14 with Westbrook out of the game, but the Thunder managed to get back within four by the end of the third.
George sank a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma City a 99-98 lead with 4:20 left, the Thunder's first lead since 7-6.
Gallinari scored the first 9 points for Clippers, who took their first double-digit lead at 28-18 with 5:38 left in the first quarter and eventually took a 36-32 advantage into the second.
The Thunder pulled even with the Clippers early in the second quarter, but Los Angeles put together another surge and a 12-2 run gave the Clippers their biggest lead of the first half at 62-48 with 2:35 remaining.
Los Angeles maintained a 12-point lead at the half.
Despite their recent success, the Clippers hadn't beaten a team currently in a playoff spot since a 123-112 win at the Boston Celtics on Feb. 9.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
