LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lou Williams scored 40 points, Danilo Gallinari added 34 and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the foul-plagued Oklahoma City Thunder 118-110 on Friday night for their first four-game winning streak since November.
Williams had 19 points in the second quarter, when the Clippers built their first lead of 14 points, then added 17 in the fourth to seal the win.
The veteran guard passed former Clipper Jamal Crawford for second in NBA career points off the bench.
Russell Westbrook scored 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting for the Thunder before fouling out with 53 seconds left. Paul George, who finished with 15 points, had already fouled out with 3:49 to go. Steven Adams also picked up his sixth foul in the final seconds.
Westbrook’s last basket, a 3-pointer, got the Thunder to 108-107. But it was their last gasp.
The Clippers ended the game on a 10-3 run, making all six of their final free throws. They were 9 of 16 from the foul line in the fourth.
Neither team led by more than four over the game’s final seven minutes.
George came off the bench to hit a go-ahead 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a 99-98 lead, their first since scoring the game’s first basket.
But the Clippers grabbed it right back on a basket by Gallinari. He and Williams combined to score the Clippers’ final 15 points.
With Westbrook and George on the bench, the Thunder got within one early in the fourth on a three-point play by Abdel Nader.
Westbrook returned and put up an airball and missed another jumper. But Markieff Morris hit a 3-pointer that again drew the Thunder within one.
Without Westbrook and George, the Thunder closed the third with a rush. Down by 14, they outscored the Clippers 12-2 to trail 88-84 going into the fourth. Dennis Schroder and Nader hit 3-pointers in the spurt.