Clippers Use Big 3rd Quarter To Surge Past Bulls, 101-91
CHICAGO (AP) — Reserve Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and took over down the stretch to carry the Los Angeles Clippers to a 101-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
Crawford, a former Bulls guard who won his third Sixth Man of the Year award last season, scored 10 points in a 14-7 spurt in the fourth quarter as the Clippers won for just the second time in six games.
Chris Paul added 17 points and Blake Griffin had 16 for Los Angeles, which lost in Milwaukee on Friday and had fallen to the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings.
Jimmy Butler scored 16 points for the Bulls, who had won five of their last six games.
The Bulls closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run and then opened the second with a 6-2 spurt to go up 35-25 on Paul Zipser's 3-pointer.
Chicago led by 10 points five times in the second quarter, but the Clippers took control late in the third. Crawford's long 3-pointer at the buzzer closed the period with an 18-5 Los Angeles run to go up 82-73.
Los Angeles then extended its lead to 96-80 midway through the fourth.
TIP-INS
Clippers: The Clippers are 6-6 on the second of back-to-back games. In those cases, Los Angeles won its first five, then lost six in a row before Saturday's win. . The Clippers won their first game in 10 tries after trailing at halftime on the road.
Bulls: Bobby Portis scored 11 points and was in double figures for the third straight game. It was the first such streak for him this season. The game was his fifth straight start and sixth of the year. . Former Bulls Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant sat courtside for the nationally televised game. Chicago rapper Chance the Rapper, who won three Grammy Awards last month, also was courtside for the nationally televised game.
UP NEXT
Clippers: Monday they host Boston, as Rivers will coach against his former team, which he led to the 2008 NBA title.
Bulls: Monday they are at Detroit, which is in contention with them near the bottom of the East playoff standings. The Bulls are in seventh, one game ahead of the eighth-place Pistons.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
