Clippers 93, Thunder 90
Blake Griffin scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as host Los Angeles held off injury-plagued Oklahoma City, which lost point guard Russell Westbrook.
Chris Paul added 22 points and seven assists for the Clippers in their season opener, but missed two free throws with 13 seconds left that left the door open for the Thunder. Jamal Crawford scored 16 points to lead the reserves for Los Angeles.
Oklahoma City, already without reigning league MVP Kevin Durant, saw Westbrook leave with a fractured right hand midway through the second quarter and he will be furthered evaluated on Friday. His loss left the Thunder with eight players and Perry Jones helped pick up the slack by scoring a career-high 32 points.
Clippers guard J.J. Redick missed his first seven field-goal attempts before sinking a 3-pointer with 3:34 left that extended the lead back to 89-82. The Thunder weren’t finished, as Serge Ibaka and Sebastian Telfair sank back-to-back 3s to pull Oklahoma City back within one 1:44 to play.
The Thunder couldn’t get over the hump and committed two turnovers in the final 1:07, the last a steal by DeAndre Jordan with 20 seconds remaining. Paul missed two free throws but Jordan blocked Telfair’s shot on the other end and Griffin and Redick made two free throws apiece before Ibaka missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Westbrook, who scored 38 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, left the game with 6:35 left in the second quarter and headed directly to the locker room, getting into a brief confrontation with a spectator as he headed toward the tunnel. … NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance. … Jones’ previous career high was 14 points.