LOS ANGELES – Kevin Durant hit a jumper with 5.8 seconds left in the game and then blocked Chris Paul's potential game-winner as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 100-99 at Staples Center on Monday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The highly anticipated matchup of two of the Western Conference's top teams did not disappoint on Monday night at Staples Center.
The action was at a fast-paced fever pitch from the opening tip as many celebrities including Drake, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Billy Crystal cheered on both teams courtside.
The Clippers roared out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Thunder came back to trail by only two points at halftime, 52-50.
The Clippers opened up the largest lead of the game at 10 pints in the third quarter, but the Thunder once again came storming back and tied the game at 89-89 with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Both teams traded punches from there as superstars on both teams went blow-for-blow with each other down the stretch. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin each hit clutch buckets in the final two minutes as the teams traded leads 10 different times.
Westbrook drained a three-pointer to give the Thunder the lead with just over a minute remaining, but Blake Griffin came right back with a monstrous dunk to put the Clippers back up by one.
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Westbrook would not be denied however as he followed up with a jumper to give the Thunder back the lead with less than a minute remaining. After a Clippers turnover, Paul stole an inbounds pass from Westbrook and took it to the basket to give the Clippers the lead with 13 seconds left.
That's when the former MVP, Kevin Durant, drained the game-winning basket with five seconds remaining, and the Thunder held on to beat the Clippers.
Paul led Los Angeles with 32 points and 10 assists. Griffin had a relatively quiet night with 15 points, 7 rebounds and five assists.
Westbrook had a game-high 33 points for the Thunder and Durant nearly had a triple-double with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
TURNING POINT
Not hard to believe, but this game literally could have gone either way. The turning point in the game came on Durant's go-ahead jumper with 5.8 seconds remaining followed by his big block on Paul's shot at the buzzer.
MVP OF THE GAME
Russell Westbrook. When there was a big play to be made, the 2014-2015 NBA leading scorer made them. Westbrook finished with 33 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Chris Paul passed Terry Porter in the second quarter on the NBA's All-Time assists list. (7,160).
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
So much unintentional comedy on the floor right now. So much. — Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 22, 2015
Tell Shaq to watch this game, there's a handful of "Shaqtin' a fool" nominees.
PHOTO OF THE NIGHT
#Drake and Floyd #Money #Mayweather share a laugh courtside in front of Billy Crystal at #OKCvsLAC #Drizzy #TMT pic.twitter.com/jt5X6TSafJ — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) December 22, 2015
Back-to-back.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"Rudolph, obviously. And then there's…Calvin?" LA Clippers forward Josh Smith when asked to name Santa's reindeer.
NOTES
Blake Griffin and Larry Bird are the only two players in NBA history to average 20 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists against the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder.
Austin Rivers missed the game with a high-ankle sprain. He is listed as day-to-day, but will likely be out at least a week.
Forwards Paul Pierce and Josh Smith did not play in the game. Pierce due to back tightness, and Smith because of a coach's decision.
Hip-hop artist Drake, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Billy Crystal all sat courtside to watch the game.
RECORD
Oklahoma City Thunder (19-9, 6-6 on the road) 1st in the Northwest Division
Los Angeles Clippers (16-13, 10-6 at home) 2nd in the Pacific Division
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Oklahoma City Thunder have 24 hours off to celebrate the holiday season in the City of Angels before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 7:30PM PST.
The Clippers get three days off to rest and relax at home before playing the Lakers on Christmas Day in a "road game" at 7:30PM PST at Staples Center.
