LOS ANGELES -- Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder could have been excused for looking ahead to a momentous visit to Golden State and a reunion with Kevin Durant looming Thursday night.Instead, Westbrook added another gutsy performance to his incredible start to his first season as the main man.Westbrook hit a jumper with 18.7 seconds left to finish with 35 points, and the Thunder remained unbeaten with an 85-83 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.Westbrook added six rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who surged in the final minutes of a tight meeting between Western Conference contenders. Although he wasnt near a triple-double for the first time this season, the ferocious point guard carried the Thunder down the stretch, scoring their final six points and making a key hustle play in the last minute.Thats the only way I know how to get it, Westbrook said. Nothing was ever given to me growing up, and I always had to find ways to get it. ... I play every game like its my last. I play every game the same, always, like Ive been saying for years. Regardless of who we play, Im going to play the same way.Westbrook had triple-doubles in the Thunders last two games, and was one assist shy of another in their opener. He mostly concentrated on scoring in his hometown, delivering a spectacular dunk in the third quarter while going 14 for 30 in 31 minutes.Hes been great, Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said. Just being around him and seeing his commitment to his teammates, his leadership and his competitive fire rubbing off on his teammates, its been great to watch. What hes doing statistically is amazing, but as a coach, Ive been impressed with his leadership.Chris Paul had 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers, who hit just one shot in a 5 1/2-minute span late in the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin scored 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter, but none in the fourth.The most frustrating part for me (is) the turnovers especially, said Paul, who made three of his five turnovers in the fourth quarter. My job is to orchestrate the offense, and I had some terrible turnovers down the stretch.TIP-INSThunder: Alex Abrines only played the final 12.3 seconds of the first half, but he hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to stake OKC to a 49-41 lead. ... Victor Oladipos nine points were the second-most by an Oklahoma City player.Clippers: LAs early-season struggles from the 3-point line continued in the first half when the Clippers went 3 for 14, including 1 for 7 by the starters. ... Marreese Speights had 14 points.BIG FINISHWestbrooks layup put the Thunder up 81-78 with 2:17 left, and he converted Jamal Crawfords turnover into a dunk 66 seconds later. J.J. Redick hit a 3-pointer to trim Oklahoma Citys lead to two points, but Westbrook hit a 17-footer to essentially seal it.RUSS BALLWestbrook averaged 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.7 assists in a spectacular three-game start to the Thunders post-Durant season. He became the first player since Magic Johnson in 1982 to start a season with triple-doubles in two of the first three gamesWestbrooks numbers were down against the Clippers in a defense-minded game featuring poor shooting by both sides. He had 16 points, four assists and two rebounds in the first half.NEW GUYJerami Grant made his Thunder debut one day after they acquired him from Philadelphia in a trade for Ersan Ilyasova and a protected draft pick. The third-year forward from Syracuse came off the bench in the second quarter and eventually finished with six points in 18 minutes.UP NEXTThunder: At Golden State on Thursday to complete a two-game California road trip.Clippers: A two-game road trip begins in Memphis on Friday night. Custom Bengals Jersey China . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Jonah Williams Jersey Large . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. http://www.custombengalsjersey.com/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Custom Jonah Williams Jersey . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Wholesale Custom Bengals Shirts . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. HOUSTON -- I spent a couple of hours with Craig Sager the day before he underwent a rare third bone marrow transplant, and it was clear that he was spent.The process was tiring and my relentless questioning didnt help, though he and his family were gracious enough to share what they were going through at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in those still-hopeful days back in August. After Id listened to his transplantation physician, Dr. Muzaffar Qazilbash, explain that almost no one gets three stem cell transplants and as I was gathering my belongings to leave, I was summoned back to Sagers room.I slowly entered, unsure of why he asked me to come back when he obviously needed to rest. When I pulled back the curtain that separated his hospital bed from the door, I heard his booming voice.Pick up that ball and sign it for me! he bellowed.Nearby was a marker and a basketball covered in signatures of all shapes and sizes.You dont want me to sign this, I replied. Im not famous.He didnt miss a beat despite the toll the years of cancer treatments had taken on his body.Everyone who visits me is special. Sign the ball! he said.I scribbled my name and thanked him again for his time. I had never met Sager before that day, but I quickly realized why he was so beloved across the NBA and beyond -- and why the sadness ran so deep Thursday after he died at the age of 65 .I spent nearly two days with him as he shared an intimate look at his last-ditch bid for life. His son was the donor for the first two transplants; this time , it was someone anonymous.It was clear by looking at him that he was very ill, but if I were to close my eyes and listen to what he said and how he said it, I doubt I would have known he was sick. Anyone who knows him knows that hes a character (see: flamboyant wardrobe). What was surprising was that even when he was staring down his own death, he maintained his TV-perfect smile and positive attitude.The relationship Sager had with his wife, Stacy, was clearly extraordinary. He gazed at her with a look of pure love, adoration and esteem. Stacy, wwho had two young children with Sager, fought back tears when we spoke about his fight.ddddddddddddI asked her if he was as upbeat privately as he had been with me and while roaming the sidelines reporting. And I asked her if ever talked about fearing death.We dont really have those deep, dark conversations, she said. We dont have any negative conversations. Everything is one day at a time and lets be grateful and blessed that we have this day and enjoy it. Who knows how many days anybody has? So we just take it one day at a time and be happy.During an interview the day before his transplant, the one that sadly couldnt save Sagers life, Charles Barkley sat and listened as we talked. Sir Charles was quiet as a mouse as Sager spoke of all the treatments hed gone through and how much the support of his NBA family had meant to him.As we spoke, I noticed a black-and-white photo of a child with some baseball players hanging on the stark hospital wall above Barkleys head. I motioned toward the picture and asked who was in it.Thats not a picture, thats actually Charles Barkley, Sager deadpanned, cracking up the room.After we composed ourselves, Sager described the picture, which was of him as an 11-year-old with Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks and some of his teammates. Sager then explained that hed been a Cubs fan since that moment and bragged that he got to throw out the first pitch at one of their games earlier this year. A big deal for a native of Batavia, Illinois.The interview soon devolved into a conversation about how he bet on the Cubs to win it all every year and they never came through. When they captured their first World Series title since 1908 a couple of months ago, Sager was the first person I thought of, knowing what it meant to him.And when the Cubs posted a video of his day at Wrigley Field on their account Thursday, I knew that Sager was somewhere smiling to know that the world champions were now honoring him. ' ' '