Thunder beat Clippers to clinch division title

OKLAHOMA CITY – Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook added 26 and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the Northwest Division title by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 112-108 on Wednesday night.

The Thunder won the first division crown for the franchise since 2005, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics, but only after fending off a late charge from the Clippers.

Blake Griffin had 35 points and 11 rebounds in the second visit to his hometown in his NBA career, but he missed a key foul shot that helped put the game away for Oklahoma City.

Durant hit two free throws at the other end to put the Thunder up 110-106 with 12 seconds left and ice the game, just moments after he'd missed a foul shot to give the Clippers a chance for the tie.

When Mo Williams couldn't get open, Griffin attacked the basket for a powerful slam but couldn't connect and got fouled by Serge Ibaka. He missed the first of his foul shots before hitting the second, and the Clippers tried to trap Durant but fouled him in the process.

An 88 percent free throw shooter, Durant wouldn't miss again.

Kendrick Perkins grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds and Ibaka chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder. It's only the second division title for the franchise in 13 years, since Seattle won three straight Pacific Division crowns from 1996 to 1998.

Williams and Eric Gordon scored 16 apiece for the Clippers, who overcame a 16-point deficit to beat Oklahoma City four nights earlier and nearly dug out of a 10-point hole in the final 3½ minutes in this one.

Gordon's steal set up a right-handed tomahawk jam by Griffin on the fast break, and Griffin then swatted Thabo Sefolosha's shot before Chris Kaman came up empty on two free throw tries that proved critical.

Randy Foye had a putback dunk after Williams tracked down a long rebound for a fast break, Williams hit a 3 and Griffin slammed home a two-handed reverse dunk off of Williams' alley-oop to get the Clippers within 107-105 with 23.1 seconds left.

L.A. could never make up for the two misses by Kaman, an 80 percent foul shooter who was 2 for 6 at the line in the fourth quarter.

DeAndre Jordan scored six points during a 10-2 Clippers run that forced Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks to hurry Westbrook and Durant back into the game. Jordan tipped in Eric Bledsoe's miss, hit two free throws and then had a right-handed jam before Craig Smith's hook shot got Los Angeles within 93-89 with 8:31 to play.

After a Thunder timeout, Westbrook got fouled in the lane and hit two free throws. Nazr Mohammed's jumper stretched the lead back to eight.

Durant made his presence known with a driving floater, then used a significant height advantage to back in for a basket against Foye that made it 105-95 with 3:32 remaining.

Griffin got off to a quick start, scoring the game's first points by dunking Mo Williams' alley-oop pass from midcourt with two hands. He dunked three more times while single-handedly outscoring the Thunder as Los Angeles took a 20-10 lead. He had a two-handed jam off an offensive rebound, another two-handed slam off an assist from Gordon and then turned a right-handed dunk into a three-point play.

Durant had an alley-oop slam of his own during a personal 7-0 run to get the Thunder going, and Oklahoma City pulled ahead after finally breaking up one of Griffin's dunks in the second quarter.

Mohammed stole an alley-oop pass intended for Griffin and scored at the other end in transition, and James Harden finished an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer to make it 39-37 Thunder with 8:01 left before halftime.

Ibaka had a tip-in and a three-point play as Oklahoma City scored the final seven points before halftime to go up 58-53.

NOTES: Griffin has 46 games this season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, one behind NBA leader Dwight Howard of Orlando. ... New Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger greeted Griffin, a former national player of the year for the Sooners, before the game. ... Jordan was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a two-handed dunk in the third quarter. Of Jordan's 221 baskets this season, 151 have been dunks.