CHICAGO - They had lost three straight games because fourth-quarter leads vanished, but the Chicago Bulls made sure it didn't happen a fourth straight time Thursday night at the United Center.

After the Los Angeles Clippers' 12-2 run to start the fourth, all on 3-pointers, the Bulls countered with a 10-3 run of their own and hung on for an 83-80 win that went down to L.A.'s final possession.

Clippers point guard Chris Paul missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with less than two seconds left to play, and the Bulls secured the rebound to seal the victory.

"I think we did our job in the fourth, made them take a lot of contested shots and we rebounded," said shooting guard Jimmy Butler, who finished with 14 points and eight assists. "Rebounding was very important."

The Clippers (13-10) were out-rebounded 54-52, but edged Chicago 13-11 in that category in the fourth. It played a role in the Bulls (12-8) again losing a late lead. Los Angeles hit 8 of 11 from the 3-point line in the fourth, but a couple followed offensive rebounds.

"In the fourth quarter, when (you're) up that big in this league now, you've just got to worry about the three ball," said Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who ditched his protective facemask for the second half and scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth. "You've got to make sure that you secure the long rebounds, because that's one of the reasons they got back in the game tonight. They shot a lot of 3s, and they were able to get the rebounds and kick it around the perimeter and take more shots."

Forward Pau Gasol scored 24 points to lead four Bulls in double-figures. Forward Blake Griffin, who was ejected with 5:59 left in the third for a flagrant foul, led the Clippers with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

When L.A. stormed back to tie it 66-66 in the fourth, they did it without Griffin, their leading scorer. Griffin attempted to block a shot by Bulls forward Taj Gibson, but swiped his forearm into Gibson's head after biting on a pump fake.

Griffin, who was ejected after a video review, said it was accidental.

"He got me up in the air on a pump fake," Griffin said. "I tried to swat the ball. Obviously I missed. It was disappointing on their ruling, because I didn't want to leave the game. I wasn't trying to hit him in the face. There was not intent to hit him, only the ball."

Gibson, who was helped to his feet by Griffin, wasn't upset about it.

"I'm old school, man, it's basketball," he said. "You're going to get hit. First thing, as soon as it happened, he reached down and made sure I was OK. I've known Blake for a long time. Great guy. Even after he got ejected, he was making sure I was OK, so it's not a big thing."

Chicago not only ended its three-game losing streak, but also snapped a three-game winning streak for the Clippers, who shot a season-low 34.1 percent from the field.

Los Angeles had also won five straight against the Bulls at the United Center.

Chicago led 44-35 at halftime and pushed it to 55-39 on a dunk by Gibson with 8:06 left in the third, capping a 12-4 run.

The Bulls trailed 19-11 with 3:23 left in the first, but rattled off a 7-0 run after a timeout to narrow the gap. They built a nine-point halftime lead by outscoring the Clippers 21-11 in the second, when L.A. went 3 for 23 from the field (13.0 percent), its second-fewest field goals in a quarter this season.

"I liked the way we fought back," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. "It was an ugly game. The last two minutes we just didn't play smart. The happy part of the end was we made a run. Tonight, turnovers and fouls stopped us. We had a great shot to steal the game at the end."

NOTES: Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg stuck with the same starting lineup he used in a 105-100 loss Wednesday against the Boston Celtics, which meant F Taj Gibson made his second start of the season. Gibson played 19:48 against the Celtics and finished with eight points and seven rebounds. ... Chicago F Mike Dunleavy (back), who hasn't played yet this season, missed his 20th game. ... The Clippers came into the game without any injury issues. ... Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers is pleased with his team's defensive effort, but still wants to see the Clippers get more defensive rebounds. ... Clippers PG Chris Paul faced Bulls PG Derrick Rose for the sixth time Thursday, and the Bulls are now 6-0 in those games. Rose came into the game averaging 24.4 points a game against the Clippers, his highest against any opponent. He had just 11 on Thursday, though.