Clippers 126, Trail Blazers 122
Chris Paul scored a season-high 41 points to go along with 17 assists as visiting Los Angeles dominated the second half to knock off Portland.
J.J. Redick added 25 points and eight rebounds while Blake Griffin collected 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Clippers, who have won eight of nine. DeAndre Jordan recorded 13 points and 13 boards as Los Angeles and moved one game ahead of Portland in the race for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points and Nicolas Batum added 21 for the Trail Blazers, who squandered a 19-point lead. Damian Lillard had 18 points and 10 assists while Arron Afflalo scored 14 for Portland.
Redick’s second straight 3-pointer gave the Clippers their first lead of the game at 100-98 and Griffin and Paul made it four 3-pointers in as many trips while pushing the lead to 106-100 with 5:46 to play. Paul buried another from beyond the arc to make it 114-103 and the Trail Blazers had a rally in the final minute fall short as Paul closed it out at the free-throw line.
Aldridge put up 16 points in the first quarter to help Portland to a 33-26 lead and the edge reached 19 points early in the second before the Trail Blazers settled for a 68-55 advantage at the break. Paul’s 3-pointer pulled Los Angeles within 75-70 with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter, and he scored the final six points of the frame after a quick Portland spurt to make it 92-85 heading to the fourth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Portland C Chris Kaman was called for a flagrant 1 foul with 25.7 seconds left in the third quarter after shoving Paul in the back and out of bounds. … Los Angeles took the season series 3-1 to win the head-to-head tiebreaker. … Redick and Paul combined to go 10-of-18 from 3-point range after a 2-of-12 showing from beyond the arc in a loss to Golden State on Tuesday.