Clippers rally to defeat Sixers in overtime, 98-92

But he should be somewhat refreshed after resting Monday during the Clippers’ 98-92 overtime victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Active defense was finally leading to 76er misses and turnovers which allowed the Clippers to get out into transition, which is something they hadn’t been able to do much at all through the first 24 minutes.

Philadelphia was seeking its ninth win of the season and first over a team with a winning record. Some of the roughest days were at practices, not games, because players were battling each other for court time in the upcoming games.

In Phoenix, Kevin Durant poured in 25 of his 32 points after intermission and Russell Westbrook added 29 in Oklahoma City’s 122-106 defeat over Phoenix Suns. Indeed, Redick managed to tie the game with a three-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation play.

ABOUT THE 76ERS (8-43): Philadelphia continues to investigate how to best utilize young big men Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel, and coach Brett Brown had Okafor playing center on offense and power forward on defense – vice versa for Noel – against the Nets.

Philly started the game 9-for-13 but went cold from that point, which helped the Clippers get back into it. L.A. closed the frame on a 13-4 run (buoyed a bit by seven quick points off the bench from Jamal Crawford) to cut the deficit to three after one. They also led by 19 on Okafor’s putback dunk with 3:53 remaining before the Clippers scored 15 of 21 points to end the quarter.

“That was the best execution we had all game”, Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said.

“Up six, up eight, we’ve got to close that game out”, Smith said. Griffin is expected to be out for another four weeks with a broken right hand he suffered when he punched the Clippers’ assistant equipment manager, Mathias Testi, last month in Toronto. Guard Ish Smith collected 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but missed 17 of his 24 attempts from the floor.

Philadelphia extended its lead to 19 in the second quarter before the Clippers started chipping away.

Philadelphia nonetheless was ahead 88-85 in the closing seconds. Following a timeout, Paul found a wide-open Redick, who swished the tying 3.

“We really couldn’t get out of the way of ourselves for most of the game”, Doc Rivers said. They block shots. That type of team if you just stop there. the Clippers do it with an elite rim presence in DeAndre. “Even when we were up 19, we knew they were going to make a run. And if you don’t play right, they can beat you”. The Clippers also covered the spread in all eight of those contests, and are 4-0 against the spread in their last four trips to Philadelphia.

The 76ers almost experienced a pair of firsts Monday night.