Trail Blazers 98, Clippers 93 (OT)
Nicolas Batum had five points, three assists and one blocked shot in the extra session to finish with 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as visiting Portland made a late charge in regulation before controlling the overtime and defeating Los Angeles.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who trailed by 10 with under three minutes left in regulation before snapping a six-game road losing streak against the Clippers. Damian Lillard collected a career-best 18 rebounds but only scored five points and he missed his first 12 shots before scoring off Batum’s lob with 3:04 left in overtime to give Portland a 91-89 lead while Aldridge added two baskets and Batum all but sealed it with a 3-pointer with 21.1 seconds to play.
Chris Paul scored a season-high 36 points and also recorded 12 assists for Los Angeles, which was 3-of-10 from the field in overtime and finished at 38.5 percent. J.J. Redick added 26 points and DeAndre Jordan collected 19 rebounds for his 10th straight game of 15 or more boards.
Paul scored 10 straight Los Angeles points to help his squad take an 85-75 lead with 2:53 remaining but the Trail Blazers answered with seven straight as Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining to cut the margin to three. Portland caught the Clippers at 87 on Batum’s 3-pointer with 25.1 seconds left and Paul’s shot with two seconds left was off the mark.
Paul had 17 first-half points as Los Angeles led 48-46 at the break after a back-and-forth first half. Paul’s 3-pointer gave the Clippers a 66-55 advantage with 4:33 left in the third quarter but Portland answered with nine straight points and the Trail Blazers trailed 68-66 entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Paul has six consecutive double-doubles and also has put together 15 games of at least 20 points and 10 assists. … Lillard had scored in double digits in 58 consecutive games. … Los Angeles played without SF Matt Barnes (hamstring) and SG Jamal Crawford (calf).