LOS ANGELES — Lou Williams responded to the Golden State Warriors taking their first lead of the second half with a four-point play with 2:32 remaining Wednesday night, igniting a late run that gave the Los Angeles Clippers a 129-121 victory over the two-time defending champions in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series at Oakland, Calif.
The Clippers’ second win of the series on the Warriors’ court sets up a sixth game in the best-of-seven on Friday night in Los Angeles, with Golden State retaining a 3-2 lead.
After trailing by nine points in the first half, 71-63 at halftime and by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, the Warriors used a 14-3 run to go up 118-117 on a drive and dunk by Kevin Durant with 2:40 remaining.
But the Clippers, facing elimination, dominated the remainder of the game, triggered by Williams’ 3-pointer on which he was fouled by Durant.
The free throw made it a four-point play and a three-point lead, and Los Angeles never trailed again.
Williams added a pair of short jumpers to increase the advantage to 125-118 with just 1:29 to go, and the Warriors, relegated to shooting 3-pointers, never mustered much of a rally.
Williams finished with 33 points for the Clippers, who have lost both home games in the series.
Danilo Gallinari chipped in with 26 points, Montrezl Harrell 24, Patrick Beverley 17 and JaMychal Green 15 for the Clippers, who overpowered the Warriors offensively with 54.1 percent field-goal shooting.
Durant led all scorers with 45 points for the top-seeded Warriors, who had a chance to move into a second-round matchup with the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets had they won.
Stephen Curry added 24 points and Klay Thompson 22 for Golden State, which shot 44.8% from the floor.
The Clippers built their lead in the first half, during which they shot 56% and enjoyed a 21-16 rebounding advantage.
The Warriors countered with 51.2 percent shooting and 10-for-16 success on 3-point tries, yet still couldn’t keep pace with a team that already had four scorers in double figures in the first 24 minutes.
Williams produced 18 of his 33 points in the first half. Gallinari had 16 points, Beverley 14 and Harrell 10 in the half.
Durant led the Warriors in the half with 21, but Curry was held to 10 points on two-for-six shooting.
ROCKETS MOVE ON AFTER SHUTTING DOWN JAZZ
James Harden scored a game-high 26 points despite struggling with his shot, and the Houston Rockets relied on their defense down the stretch of their 100-93 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of this Western Conference first-round series Wednesday at Toyota Center.
Houston claimed the series 4-1 by holding the Jazz scoreless following a Ricky Rubio 12-footer with 1:32 left. Rubio pulled Utah to within 94-93 with his pull-up jumper in the lane, but the Rockets responded with an Eric Gordon steal and a Harden block with the game in the balance.
Harden shot just 10 of 26 but added six rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals. Rockets forward P.J. Tucker paced the defensive effort with nine defensive boards and four blocks, and his two free throws with 54.8 seconds left proved redemptive after he missed two from the line on the previous possession. Tucker finished with eight points.
Clint Capela added 16 points and 10 boards for Houston while Chris Paul and Gordon scored 15 apiece, with Paul adding eight rebounds and five assists. The Jazz claimed a plus-1 advantage on the boards and Houston produced a 13-8 edge in second-chance points.
Rubio paired 17 points with 11 assists to co-author the attack for Utah, which received 18 points off the bench from Royce O’Neale. Jae Crowder chipped in a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) as well, however, guard Donovan Mitchell labored again for the Jazz, shooting just four of 22 while missing all nine of his 3-pointers en route to 12 points. Utah shot 37.2% overall.
Utah withstood the Rockets’ initial punch, pulling even at 12-12 on a Mitchell layup after Houston scored the opening eight points. By the close of the first quarter, the Rockets had cooled off completely, shooting just 36.8 percent in the period while committing seven turnovers.
For a brief spell, the Jazz found some perimeter shooting, with Joe Ingles drilling 3 of 7 3-points while Utah wrestled away the lead. Harden, meanwhile, continued his struggles, even missing an open baseline dunk en route to a 1-for-11 start from the floor. But with the Rockets trailing 39-35, Harden found a spark, making his final three shots of the half to carry Houston to a 46-42 lead at the break. The Rockets extended that run to 21-3 and led 56-44 when Tucker sank a 3 at the 9:56 mark of the third. But the Jazz were undaunted and took a 77-75 lead early in the fourth. — Reuters
