LA's Paul dominates Ingles and Jazz in NBA

Apr 22, 2017 - 6:10 AM The Los Angeles Clippers have staged a major comeback to stun the Utah Jazz and take a 2-1 lead in their NBA playoff series.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder made the surprise move to give Australia's Joe Ingles the defensive task of harassing and chasing the Clippers' All-Star point guard Chris Paul.

It almost worked.

The Jazz, playing in front of a boisterous home crowd in Salt Lake City for the first time in the series, were hot early and held a 14-point lead in the third quarter.

The 203cm tall Ingles used his size advantage to stifle the 183cm Paul.

But, Paul broke free in the final four minutes to lead the Clippers to a 111-106 win.

"We just hung in there long enough and then CP down the stretch was phenomenal on both ends," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.

With four minutes to go the Jazz were up 96-94 but Paul, hitting a three-pointer, jump shots, a layup and free throws, scored 13 of his 34 points to seal the game.

Ingles had nine points, sinking three of his eight three point attempts during 33 minutes on court.

Jazz All-Star Gordon Hayward had a franchise playoff record 40 points, shooting 62 per cent from the field, but as Paul got hot he went cold in the final quarter.

Utah's Australian guard Dante Exum has fallen out of Snyder's rotation and was left on the bench for the third straight game.

The Clippers appeared in trouble in the third quarter when their power forward Blake Griffin sprained his toe and and did not return to the game.

Game four of the best-of-seven series is in Salt Lake City on Sunday (Monday AEST).

In other games on Friday, Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook scored 32 points in a triple-double to stave off the Houston Rockets 115-113 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

Houston's James Harden scored 44 points, but he missed a three-pointer that could have won the game just before time expired.

Game four is in Chicago on Sunday (Monday AEST).

The Eastern Conference's top-ranked Boston Celtics finally scored a win, defeating the Chicago Bulls 104-87.

The Celtics lost the first two games of the series on their home court against the eighth-seeded Bulls.

The Celtics were led by Al Horford's 18 points and eight rebounds and Isaiah Thomas, rocked by the car crash that killed his sister last week, scored 16 points.

The Bulls struggled with guard Rajon Rondo out indefinitely with a broken right thumb.

Game four is on Sunday (Monday AEST) in Chicago.

Source: AAP