Clippers fall to Trail Blazers in OT, 98-93

The Clippers three-game winning streak was snapped by the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday following a 98-93 overtime loss.

The game was sent to overtime after Nicolas Batum made an uncontested three-pointer to tie the game at 87 with 26.1 seconds left. On the Clippers next posession, Chris Paul drove to the basket and shot a running bank shot that circled around the rim before bouncing out.

Hedo Turkoglu made the first shot in overtime, a driving finger roll layup with four minutes left. The Trail Blazers then went on a 6-0 run to lead by four points, 93-89, with two minutes remaining. Paul responded by scoring two consecutive buckets to tie the game at 93 with just over a minute left. Then LaMarcus Aldridge had a dunk and Batum made yet another three-pointer to give the Trail Blazers the win.

The Clippers (40-22), who are in fifth place in the Western Conference, are now 1 1/2 games behind the third-place Trail Blazers (40-19).

Paul finished with a game-high 36 points and 12 assists, having yet another game with big numbers in Blake Griffin’s absence. J.J. Redick added 26 points. And DeAndre Jordan had 19 rebounds, his 10th straight game with 15 or more boards, though he made a couple of costly bumbles for the team, including holding the ball with the game tied and 0.7 seconds left instead of trying to tip it in, and missing a dunk at the top of overtime.

The Clippers were outrebounded, 61-51, but they committed nine turnovers while the Trail Blazers had 16.

The Clippers were playing without Griffin (staph infection in right elbow), Jamal Crawford (right calf bruise) and Matt Barnes (right hamstring injury). They are now 7-3 without Griffin, who missed his 10th game Wednesday. Before the Clippers played the Trail Blazers, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said “there’s a chance” Griffin could play Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers started to break away from the Trail Blazers in the third quarter, taking their biggest lead of the game at 11 points after Paul made a jumper. The Trail Blazers then clawed their way back to cut the deficit to two, 68-66, heading into the fourth.

Paul opened the fourth quarter with eight points in the first eight minutes, including a play with six minutes left that sent Damien Lillard flying in the opposite direction with a cross over, as Paul then proceeded to make a jumper near the free throw line.

The Clippers’ short bench only combined for 14 points, but Glen “Big Baby” Davis provided the team some energy by playing good defense on Aldridge. He forced the Trail Blazers’ power forward him to shoot a long three-pointer -- which he bricked -- with just under eight minutes left, sending the Staples Center crowd to its feet.

Wednesday was the Clippers first loss to Portland this season -- they beat them, 100-94, on Jan. 14 and, 106-102, on Nov. 8.