• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Clippers rally, hand Jazz first home loss

Dec 4, 2012 - 5:39 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Chris Paul's driving layup within the final minute put the Clippers on top for good, as Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter to top the Utah Jazz, 105-104, at EnergySolutions Arena.

Paul finished with 14 points and nine assists, while Blake Griffin dropped in a game-high 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds in the Clippers' third straight win.

Mo Williams paced five Utah double-digit scorers with 20 points and 12 assists.

Randy Foye added 19 points, Gordon Hayward had 17, Al Jefferson contributed 16 with 10 rebounds and Paul Millsap scored 13 for the Jazz, who lost at home for the first time this season and had their 12-game, regular-season home win streak snapped.

"For the most part, the guys put forth a great effort. We had chances to win the ballgame," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They made some tough shots down the stretch."

Los Angeles trailed by as many as 14 points in third quarter before entering the fourth with an 83-73 deficit, but opened the frame with an 18-7 run to go on top, 91-90, on Griffin's alley-oop dunk from Paul with five minutes left to play.

It remained a one-possession game from there as the lead exchanged hands four times for the remainder of the game.

The Jazz took their last lead of the contest when Williams received the ball on the left wing and sank a contested 3-pointer for a 99-97 edge with 1:29 left.

But Chauncey Billups was fouled while shooting a three on the other end and made 2-of-3 foul shots to even the score.

After Millsap missed a layup on Utah's ensuing possession, Paul drove down the lane and kissed a driving layup high off the glass and in to put LA ahead for good at 101-99.

The Jazz did have a chance for a game-winning shot after Foye connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1.2 seconds left and then grabbed Billups' errant in-bounds pass, but his desperation shot at the buzzer was too strong.

"The first half looked like we wasted a bunch of jet fuel trying to get up here because no one showed up and it was just a waste of time," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Then we were able to win the second half. DeAndre (Jordan) did a better job on his post defense, obviously Blake (Griffin) was scoring the basketball well, and then down the stretch Chris (Paul) made some big plays. It was just a team effort."

The teams traded baskets over the opening portion of the first quarter until back-to-back buckets by Jefferson sparked a 14-1 run by Utah that gave the Jazz a 29-16 lead with less than a minute remaining.

Eric Bledsoe converted a three-point play to halt the run before Foye's layup gave Utah a 31-19 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Jamal Crawford scored seven points in a 9-2 spurt to bring the Clippers within 38-33 early in the second, but they would get no closer than that until Griffin netted five straight to make it a 48-44 game with 3:30 left in the half.

Utah, however, responded with an 8-2 push to regain a double-digit cushion and took a 58-51 advantage into the break.

The Jazz maintained at least a seven-point margin for the entire third quarter en route to an 83-73 edge heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

Utah fell to 6-1 at home and failed to record its first 7-0 home start since the 2006-07 season ... The Jazz have allowed six of their last seven opponents to reach 100 points ... Crawford finished with 20 points for the Clippers, who shot 47.2 percent from the floor ... Utah connected on 56.8 percent of its shots ... LA scored 25 points off 17 Utah turnovers.