INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton intercepted an inbound pass from LA Clippers guard James Harden to Ivica Zubac in the paint with less than three seconds left to give the Blazers a 106-105 win Wednesday night at the Intuit Dome .

The Blazers then ran out the final second of the clock after Ayton was fouled.

The play capped a flurry of action down the stretch, highlighted by Blazers guard Anfernee Simons and Harden going back and forth for scores several times in the final minutes of action.

Simons led the Blazers with 25 points. Ayton scored 15 with 12 rebounds. Harden scored 19 points and had 10 assists for the Clippers, who received a game-high 30 points from Norman Powell.

The Blazers started the game sloppily, shooting poorly and trailing by as many as 10 in the first quarter.

That trend changed overnight. The Blazers trailed only 26–24 at the end of the first quarter and then made nine of their first fourteen field goal attempts in the second quarter to take a 44–38 lead. The Blazers led by as many as 11 in the quarter, but the Clippers came back to trail just 54-50 at halftime.

“I thought we did a great job of sticking together,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “We knew everyone in this game was going to go out and play against one of the best defensive teams in the league. And they play with the physical level that we try to play with.”

WHAT IT MEANS

The Blazers (2-3) recorded a big victory over the Clippers (2-2) with a tough schedule ahead.

The Blazers face the difficult task of returning home Friday to host the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-0) and then hitting the road for four games starting Saturday against the Phoenix Suns (3-1).

FORMER BLAZERS SHINE

Powell and Derrick Jones Jr. played a role during their brief stint in Portland, but they were major players Wednesday night.

Both started and combined to score 39 points with 13 rebounds.

Powell led the Clippers with 30 points and five rebounds. He shot 11 of 22 from the field and made 5 of 10 threes.

Jones added eight rebounds to his nine points and had a steal and a blocked shot.

NEXT

The Blazers host the Thunder at the Moda Center on Friday at 7 p.m. before beginning a four-game trip.