Griffin hits 43 as Clippers rip Hornets in OT

LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin scored a season-high 43 points and Chris Paul had 15 points and 17 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers held off the Charlotte Hornets 124-121 in overtime Sunday night.

The Hornets lost despite getting 34 points from Kemba Walker and 31 from Nicolas Batum, who shot 8 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Charlotte had a chance to win at the end, trailing by one late in overtime, but a poor pass by Walker was picked off by center DeAndre Jordan with six seconds to go. He followed Paul’s miss on the other end with a dunk that all but sealed the victory.

The Clippers looked as though they had the game in hand late in regulation when Griffin hit a 3-pointer and then finished a three-point play to give Los Angeles a 113-108 lead with 48.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

But then Walker hit a 3 and added two free throws with 11.9 seconds left to tie it. Paul missed a 15-foot fallaway at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

In Oklahoma, Russell Westbrook scored 41 points in his 29th triple-double of the season to help the Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 118-110.

In a highlight move, Westbrook blew past Steven Adams’ pick and saw 6-foot-11, 270-pound DeMarcus Cousins slide over to block his path to the rim.

Westbrook didn’t care. Oklahoma City’s 6’3” point guard leaped up and uncorked a devastating right-handed jam over the new member of the Pelicans. It drew Cousins’ sixth foul with 2:38 to go, and the Thunder led the rest of the way.

In other results, Milwaukee repulsed Phoenix, 100-96; Memphis trounced Denver, 105-98; Utah downed Washington, 102-92; Toronto held off Portland, 112-106; Boston outlasted Detroit, 104-98; and the San Antonio Spurs blasted the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-98.