For the Clippers, the home stretch felt more like a marathon.
They capped their sixth game in eight days with a scrappy 87-83 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons, who are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a record of 16-29.
That means that they won three of their six home games, not great news for a team that was at the top of the Pacific Division during the All-Star break yet entered Sunday's games 2 1/2 games behind the Lakers.
But at least they'll depart for their ensuing three-game trip with a two-game win streak.
The Clippers led by as many as 10 points but blew their lead behind languid legs and haphazard shooting -- they made a woeful 26.3% in the second quarter. Before the Clippers knew it, they were trailling by 10 points.
Led by an offensive push by Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the Clippers reduced the deficit to four points with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Randy Foye made two big three-pointers in the final minutes, one with 4 minutes 5 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game and another with less than two minutes left to bring the Clippers to within two points at 74-72.
In a controversial call with 43.3 seconds left, the referees decided that Caron Butler was not fouled when he scrambled for a loose ball that flew out of bounds and possession was given to Detroit. Tayshaun Prince missed a jumper, giving the Clippers a chance to tie the score or take the lead with 25.6 seconds remaining.
Enter Griffin.
Paul penetrated but missed a contested layup. Luckily for the Clippers, their star power forward was there to tip it in with 19.2 seconds left to tie the score, 74-74.
Overtime.
The Clippers scored the first two points in overtime after Nick Young was fouled on a jumper and made both of his free throws. Paul and Greg Monroe then traded baskets.
With 43.9 seconds left, the Clippers had a 81-80 lead.
Griffin committed his fifth personal foul with 31 seconds left, sending Monroe to the free throw. He made both of his shots to give Detroit an 82-81 advantage.
Paul responded with a fadeaway jumper on the other end to give the Clippers the lead, 83-82, with 22.1 seconds remaining. Foye added a layup to put the Clippers up by three points.
The Pistons' Ben Gordon was fouled on his team's next possession with 6.2 seconds left by the Clippers, who were in the penalty. Gordon made one of his two shots to make the score 85-83.
Detroit then fouled Paul, who made both of his free throws to give the Clippers the win.
Paul finished with 19 points, nine of which he scored in the five-minute overtime. Griffin had 17 points and 11 rebounds while Foye added 14 points.
With this win, the Clippers improve to 26-18. Their next three games are on the road against Indiana, Oklahoma City and New Orleans.
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Clippers defeat the Pistons in overtime, 87-83
