LOS ANGELES — Darren Collison scored 12 of 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Clippers rallied for a 101-99 win over Oklahoma City in Game Four of their NBA playoff series here Sunday. The unheralded Collinson shot seven-of-12 from the field in Sunday's victory, which knotted the best-of-seven Western Conference second-round series at two games apiece. Oklahoma City led by 22 points in the first quarter and by 16 points in the final period, but it couldn't contain the hard-charging Clippers when it mattered the most. “We had to score and get stops, and we did that,” Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said. “It's now a three-game series.” The Clippers outscored the Thunder 52-32 in the paint during the Mother's Day matinee in front of a crowd of 19,365 at Staples Center arena. Blake Griffin scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Clippers, who are beginning to look like a battle-tested playoff team. The Los Angeles team has never gone past the second round of the post-season. The series now heads to Oklahoma City for Game Five Tuesday. Leads have been hard to hold onto in this series. The Thunder rallied to win game three, marking the first time in this regular season and playoffs that the Clippers lost a game at home when leading going into the fourth quarter. The Thunder must now rebound at their Chesapeake Energy Arena. They made the NBA finals two years ago but didn't advance past the second round last season after Russell Westbrook went down with a knee injury. Westbrook missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer Sunday. Griffin played the final 8:44 with five fouls and scored 10 of his points down the stretch for the Clippers. Chris Paul finished with 23 points, 10 assists and just one turnover for Los Angeles. NBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant scored 40 points but also committed eight of the Thunder's 16 turnovers. Westbrook finished with 27 points and eight assists for the Thunder, who appeared to be cruising to victory with a 16-point lead with 9:19 remaining before allowing the Clippers to hit 13 of their last 16 shots. Westbrook scored a basket out of a timeout in the final moments. That was followed by a Griffin miss that gave the Thunder one last shot, but Westbrook's try from several feet behind the three-point line hit the rim as the horn sounded. “I had a good look, but it didn't go in,” Westbrook said. “It's a tough loss, but its a series. We'll go back home and take care of business.” In Washington, Indiana's Paul George compiled a playoff career-high 39 points and added 12 rebounds as the Pacers edged Washington 95-92 to take a 3-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday. The top-seeded Pacers trailed by 17 points at halftime but fought back to win their third straight game and take a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series. The Pacers can advance to a second consecutive East final with a win in Game Five set for Tuesday in Indiana. After losing the series opener the Pacers have toughened up on defense to take control, holding the Wizards to a franchise-low 63 points in a Game Three win. Paul ignited the offense on Sunday when he was aggressive early and scored 28 second-half points to lead a comeback. “In the first quarter I got into a rhythm and my team mates found me,” said George, who played 46 of the possible 48 minutes. “I already had it in my head that I was pretty much going to play the distance. I wanted to give whatever was needed.” Indiana center Roy Hibbert continued his resurgence with 17 points and nine rebounds. Hibbert's 12-foot jump shot with one minute left in the game gave the Pacers a 94-91 edge. Bradley Beal scored a team-high 20 for Washington but the Wizards let a potential win slip away. The home team was outscored 33-17 in the third quarter to see their lead evaporate. Trevor Ariza added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who are lacking in playoff experience but are not ready to concede the series. “(Lack of experience) is an excuse,” said Wizards coach Randy Wittman. “I don't talk about that because I don't want our guys using that as an excuse. We have to go out and win a ballgame.” — Agencies
