Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Paul leads Clippers past NBA-leading Thunder (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Chris Paul had 26 points and 14 assists, Blake Griffin added 22 points and a monstrous dunk, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Oklahoma City 112-100 Monday night, snapping the Thunder's four-game winning streak in a matchup of division leaders.

Caron Butler also had 22 points, Chauncey Billups scored 13, Mo Williams 12 and DeAndre Jordan had 11 with 11 rebounds as the Pacific-leading Clippers dunked with high-flying abandon against the team with the NBA's best record at 16-4. They won their third in a row to follow up a 109-105 victory at Denver a night earlier that began a stretch of five games in seven nights.

Kevin Durant had 36 points and 13 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook added 31 for the Northwest-leading Thunder, whose league-best road record dropped to 8-3. They had won 11 of their previous 12.

Daequan Cook was the only other Oklahoma City player in double figures with 12 points. Durant and Westbrook scored all but two of the Thunder's 25 points in the third quarter, which the Clippers ended on a 3-pointer by Paul to lead 90-70.

Griffin's one-handed jam over Kendrick Perkins early in third sent the crowd into a frenzy, with Jordan grabbing Griffin from behind in a celebratory bear hug as the basket got replayed over and over.

Durant and Westbrook began the fourth on the bench, although they both stood up when Cook hit his second 3-pointer of the period to get the Thunder to 95-81. Griffin then scored five in a row, capped by a two-handed jam that extended the Clippers' lead to 100-81.

The Thunder outscored Los Angeles 30-22 in the fourth but never made a big run to get close.

The Clippers made 13 3-pointers ? just off their season high of 14 against Denver on Sunday.

The Clippers stunned the Thunder with four consecutive 3-pointers in less than a minute to close the first half leading 64-46. The flurry by Williams (two), Butler (one) and Billups (one) stopped the Thunder's 11-2 run that had drawn them within six points.

Los Angeles shot 71 percent from long range in a half that also featured a series of huge dunks by Jordan, Griffin, Durant and Westbrook, although both teams missed their share of dunks, too.

The Clippers made 10 3s in the half, led by four from Butler, who connected from his favorite spot in the left corner.

The Thunder's only lead was four points to start the game. They had won 11 of their previous 12 games.

Notes: Butler reached the 10,000-point mark on his third 3-pointer in the first quarter. ... Durant and Westbrook have scored at least 25 points each 37 times in their four seasons together. ... The Clippers improved to 10-2 at home. ... It was the Clippers' 12th consecutive sellout this season and 24th in a row overall dating to last season. The crowd of 19,404 included Larry King and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Dan Haren.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_thunder_clippers

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