Russell Westbrook came up big to help the LA Clippers pull off a stunning late comeback win over the Brooklyn Nets 125-114 at Crypto.com Arena.
Down by 15 going into the fourth quarter and trailing by 18 at one stage during the period, LA raced home with a 41-15 final stanza including holding the Nets scoreless in the final five and a half minutes in a wild collapse from the visitors.
Westbrook racked up 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting and six assists with a team-high nine rebounds and as a team-high +22 plus/minus off the bench in one of his best outings for the season, particularly since the Clippers acquired James Harden.
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Harden had 24 points and dished out 10 assists and Kawhi Leonard added 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Paul George’s shot was off, going 5-of-17 from the field for 12 points.
With it, the Clippers improved to 27-14 overall and 2-1 since Ivica Zubac’s injury as they navigate a tricky period without their starting centre from Croatia.
It also created greater separation between the top four seeds in the West – Minnesota (30-12), OKC (29-13), Denver (29-14) and the Clippers – to the rest of the conference, with New Orleans (25-18) sitting three games behind in the fifth seed.
Mikal Bridges top-scored for Brooklyn with 26 and Cam Thomas chipped in 20 points and six assists off the bench.
The Nets, who were coming off a big upset win over the Lakers, split their trip to LA 1-1 to fall to 17-25 on the season.
Ben Simmons travelled with the team on its three-game road trip against Portland and both LA teams as the Aussie slowly ramps up his return from a back injury that’s sidelined him since early November.
ALL RESULTS
NETS 114 CLIPPERS 125
NUGGETS – WIZARDS
HEAT – MAGIC
CELTICS – ROCKETS
PACERS – SUNS
TRAIL BLAZERS – LAKERS
