Ugly but a win nonetheless

A day after failing to bring their A game in a loss at Sacramento, the Thunder once again played catch-up most of the night in Los Angeles but dominated the fourth quarter to post an ugly 83-79 win over the Clippers late Wednesday night at Staples Center.

If you didn’t stay up until midnight to watch Kevin Durant’s big shot in the final minute, it wasn’t pretty. Niether team shot well. The Thunder finished at 42.2 percent, the Clippers 35.9.

The bottom line is the Thunder found a way to win an ugly game.

The most revealing stat was the Clippers shot only 15.8 percent in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line, making only 3 of 19 shots.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks admitted the Clippers missed a few good looks. But the Thunder also turned up its defensive pressure.

After trailing by as many as nine points, the Thunder opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to take control. Jeff Green was big early in the run, hitting a 3-pointer to start the quarter and drained another big bucket to put the Thunder up 73-69.

Led by Kevin Durant’s double-double (30 points, 10 rebounds), the Thunder built the lead to 78-71 but failed to get baskets to put the game away.