The Associated Press
CHICAGO—This time, the Chicago Bulls dug in.
They let a big lead slip away in the second half, but made just enough plays down the stretch to win a game they needed in a big way.
Pau Gasol scored 24 points as the Bulls beat the L.A. Clippers 83-80 last night to snap a three-game losing streak.
“We have an opportunity here to do something special,” Gasol said.
“I would hate if we would throw it away ourselves.”
The Bulls caught a big break midway through the third quarter when Clippers’ all-star Blake Griffin was ejected for a hard foul against Taj Gibson, and they came away with the win after blowing a 16-point lead.
Derrick Rose banked in a floater with 45 seconds left to make it 83-77 before L.A.’s Wesley Johnson buried a three-pointer.
The Clippers then rebounded a miss by Chicago’s Jimmy Butler with six seconds left, but Chris Paul’s tying three-point attempt hit the rim just before the buzzer.
Gasol hit a career-high three three-pointers.
Rose came on strong down the stretch—scoring nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
He also played the second half without the protective mask he’s been wearing after fracturing his left orbital on the first day of practice.
Butler, coming off a career-high 36 points against Boston the previous night, scored 14 and added a season-high eight assists.
Gibson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Griffin had 18 points and 11 rebounds for L.A. Paul scored 12 while DeAndre Jordan added 10 points and 14 rebounds.
The Clippers hit eight three-pointers in the fourth quarter, and were 10-of-22 for the game, but they came up short after winning three-straight and six of seven.
The Bulls were leading by 14 when Griffin knocked Gibson to the floor with a blow to the face as he head-faked and went up for a shot inside with 5:59 left in the third.
Griffin helped Gibson to his feet. But after a review, the officials called a flagrant foul 2—meaning an automatic ejection for Griffin.
“I wasn’t trying to hit him in the face,” Griffin stressed. “There was no intent to hurt, or intent to even really hit him.
“I was going to try to hit the ball and he pump-faked me.”
Elsewhere in the NBA, Brooklyn beat Philadelphia 100-91, Oklahoma City downed Atlanta 107-94, and Sacramento shaded New York 99-97.
