LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford hit clutch 3-pointers in the final minute and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 101-97 Friday night for their first victory of the preseason.
Crawford finished with 25 points and Spencer Hawes added 24. Blake Griffin had 17 points, and Paul finished with 11 points and nine assists for the Clippers (1-3).
Gordon Hayward scored 22 points to lead Utah (4-1). Trey Burke had 21 and Derrick Favors added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Favors made a bank shot and a reverse layup to give Utah 92-89 edge late in the fourth quarter. Crawford responded with a tying 3-pointer before Rudy Gobert’s dunk gave the Jazz the lead back with 1:02 left.
Paul’s 3 with 41.7 left put the Clippers back in front. Favors made a free throw at the other end, tying it at 95, but Crawford hit his fifth 3 with 18.5 seconds remaining and Hawes added a breakaway dunk to seal the win.
Griffin and Jazz reserve forward Trevor Booker had to be separated after Booker committed a hard foul on Griffin’s drive to basket with 2:56 left in the third quarter and Jazz leading 66-61. The referees took another look at the sequence on the replay screen at midcourt and assessed a flagrant 1 foul on Booker, who also received a technical foul along with Griffin and Paul.
The Clippers used a 9-2 run over the final 1:15 of the third quarter to take a 75-74 lead. It included a four-point play by Crawford, who holds the NBA career record in that category with 41 during the regular season.
The Jazz led 47-46 at halftime.
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