Clippers win fifth game in a row, beating Denver Nuggets, 102-98

Jamal Crawford scored 11 points in the final three minutes and 10 seconds of Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, giving the Clippers their fifth win in a row, 102-98.

After entering the fourth quarter trailing the Nuggets by eight points, 77-69, the Clippers tied the game at 92-92 with three minutes and 10 seconds left following a three-pointer from Crawford.

The Clippers then had an exciting sequence with one minute and 24 seconds remaining. Blake Griffin blocked a shot, Chris Paul scrambled to get possession of it, then overthrew it downcourt to Crawford, who caught it as it was going out of bounds, and threw it backward over his head to Matt Barnes, who layed it in, giving the Clippers a 96-94 advantage.

That was a long sentence, but quite a play.

Crawford finished with a game-high 23 points off the bench and Matt Barnes had 18 points. Griffin nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Chris Paul added 15 points, eight assists, and five rebounds.

The Clippers had a big second quarter. After trailing by as many as 16 points, they took their first lead of the game, 46-45, after a give-and-go from Griffin to Paul back to Griffin, who made a layup with just under a minute remaining in the first half. DeAndre Jordan added three blocked shots and had a two-handed backward dunk in that minute to help the Clippers enter halftime with a 50-47 advantage.

Glen “Big Baby” Davis gave the Clippers some energy off the bench. He had a pair of rebounds at the top of the fourth that sent the bench and the crowd to their feet, cheering for him. He finished with eight points and five rebounds.

The Clippers (31-14) dealt the Nuggets their seventh (18-27) loss in a row.

It was a good win for the Clippers, who won’t be playing at home for two weeks. The team leaves for an eight-game trip Tuesday.

Follow Melissa Rohlin on Twitter @melissarohlin