LOS ANGELES — The third quarter, winning time for the Clippers.
Wait, what?
A chronically slow-starting team following the intermission, the Clippers broke open a back-and-forth affair in a big way in the third quarter en route to a 128-121 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday at Staples Center.
The Clippers won the third period 45-21, their season-high for any quarter, which included a 19-4 run to begin the frame and 11 points in the final 1:10 – or after Coach Doc Rivers was ejected along with Chicago coach Jim Boylen.
The two coaches exchanged words along the sideline, apparently disputing a foul call on Montrezl Harrell, with Boylen (who entered the game with four technical fouls in 45 games as the Bulls head coach) the more animated of the two.
After both were tossed, Rivers left with a shrug and a few words for guard Patrick Beverley before assistant Rex Kalamian took over on the Clippers bench as they closed out the quarter ahead 102-84 and on their way to their sixth win in seven games and their ninth in their last 12.
With the win, the Clippers (40-30) remain in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, keeping pace with the sixth-place San Antonio Spurs, who improved to 40-29 with their win over the New York Knicks earlier Friday. The Clippers have 12 regular-season games left.
Rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander asserted himself in 30 minutes, finishing with 17 points, the seventh time in eight games he’s scored in double figures. The 20-year-old also had seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
After sitting out Tuesday’s loss to Portland to tend to an ailing left foot, Danilo Gallinari came on in the second half, when he scored 18 of his 27 points, including 12 in the pivotal third quarter.
Off the bench, Harrell had 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting and Lou Williams added 21. Playing against his favorite childhood team, Chicago native Patrick Beverley had another busy night: 13 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal.
Defensively, the Clippers forced 11 second-half turnovers and cooled off the Bulls (19-51) offensively; Chicago made 25 of its 44 attempts (56.8 percent) in the first half, but only 16 of 36 in the second. Zach LaVine finished with 31 points, and Robin Lopez had 22.
The Clippers trailed 63-57 after a first half that included 22 lead changes (one shy of a season-high 23 for the hosts) and 10 ties. The Bulls were led early by LaVine and Lopez’s 16 points apiece. The Clippers shot just 40.8 percent from the field to start, but 14 for 16 from the free-throw line, to stay close.
Gilgeous-Alexander opened with 11 first-half points, four rebounds and two assists. Harrell and Williams both had 10 points apiece before the rapper Soulja Boy (who reportedly was arrested Friday morning on a probation violation before being released pending a hearing later this month) took the court to perform at halftime.
Recently acquired guard Garrett Temple continued getting more comfortable with his Clippers teammates, scoring six points in five first-half minutes as the Clippers went on a 9-1 run to build a short-lived 39-35 lead to start the second quarter.
“Finally got in my groove a little bit last game (against Portland) offensively,” Temple said at shootaround before Friday’s game. “Doc and coach (John) Welch pushed me to be more aggressive, especially on the open floor so I had some chances and took advantage of them.”
More to come on this story.
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