Clippers Rally Behind Crawford To Beat Magic 103-101
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jamal Crawford scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, Wesley Johnson added 21 points off the bench and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied to beat Orlando 103-101 Saturday night, snapping the Magic's five-game winning streak.
Blake Griffin had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers, who played without injured guards Chris Paul and J.J. Redick.
Reserve Victor Oladipo scored a season-high 24 points and Elfrid Payton added 21 points for the Magic, who blew all of a 12-point lead early in the fourth.
That's when the Clippers rattled off three straight 3-pointers, one by Johnson and two by Crawford, as part of a 22-7 run that gave them a 99-96 lead. Crawford had 15 points in the spurt during which the Magic went 3:33 without scoring.
Griffin's jumper pushed the Clippers' lead to 101-98 before Jason Smith's tip cut it to 101-100.
Crawford got fouled and missed the first but made the second for a 102-100 lead with 10 seconds to go.
Oladipo's jumper bounced off the front of the rim and Tobias Harris fouled Austin Rivers, who made the first and missed the second for a 103-100 lead with 4.3 seconds left.
Payton went to the line and made the first and missed the second, but the Clippers gained possession with 1 second left.
Orlando shot 60 percent in the third and kept it up to start the fourth. The Magic outscored the Clippers 10-3, extending their lead to 89-77 before the Clippers fought back.
Former USC player Nikola Vucevic had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic.
The Magic opened the third with a 15-8 run that gave them a 65-61 lead. They hit three 3s in the spurt, including consecutive ones by Evan Fournier and Channing Frye. Payton had the other 3 while contributing seven points.
Griffin scored five of the Clippers' next seven points to give them a 68-67 lead.
Orlando then outscored the Clippers 12-5, including nine in a row, to lead 79-74 going into the fourth.
TIP-INS
Magic: They fell to 4-6 on the road. ... They've had nine games decided by five points or less and six decided by three points or less.
Clippers: Paul missed his second straight game with inflamed rib cartilage. ... Redick has a sprained right ankle that he hurt in the opening 18 seconds of Wednesday's loss to Indiana. ... F Josh Smith turned 30 on Saturday. ... Their upcoming five-game, 10-day trip covers about 5,082 miles.
UP NEXT
The Magic visit Denver on Tuesday.
The Clippers open a five-game road trip at Minnesota on Monday.
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