Reserves Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 16 points, and the Clippers easily routed the Memphis Grizzlies 99-73 on Monday night, with Chris Paul missing his first game this season because of a bruised right kneecap.
The matchup between two of the best teams in the West was not close much of the way. While Paul watched from the bench, the Grizzlies were without their leading scorer: Rudy Gay was excused for his grandmother’s funeral in Baltimore.
Eric Bledsoe, starting for Paul, had 14 points, and Blake Griffin scored 10.
Zach Randolph had 15 for Memphis, who lost their second straight. Wayne Ellington added 11 in a rare start, and Darrell Arthur had 10.
BULLS 97, HAWKS 58
In Chicago, Illinois, Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls held Atlanta to a franchise-low 20 points in the first half of a victory over the Hawks.
Reserve forward Mike Scott scored 10 points to lead Atlanta as none of the starters reached double figures. Josh Smith and Kyle Korver had nine points each.
Jeff Teague had a layup with 7.9 seconds left to prevent the Hawks’ lowest scoring total in franchise history.
Atlanta have lost five straight on the road and six of seven overall.
The Bulls held the Hawks to just five points in the second quarter and led 48-20 at the break.
WIZARDS 120, MAGIC 91
In Washington, Emeka Okafor had 19 points and 11 rebounds, leading six players in double figures for Washington in a victory over the Magic for their third straight win.
The Wizards were just 4-28 before their streak, but beat Oklahoma City, Atlanta and now Orlando — all at home — to nearly double their wins total.
John Wall had 12 points and six assists in 20 minutes in his second game of the season after missing the Wizards’ first 33 with a left knee injury.
Washington shot a season-best 56.1 percent, scored their most points and had their largest winning margin of the season.
Jameer Nelson had 19 points and 12 assists to lead Orlando, and Nikola Vucevic added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
CELTICS 100, BOBCATS 89
In Boston, Massachusetts, Rajon Rondo scored 17 points with 12 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Celtics to victory over Charlotte.
It was Rondo’s third triple-double of the season and the 26th of his career, including playoffs.
Paul Pierce scored 19 and Avery Bradley added 16 for Boston, who won for a season-high sixth consecutive game. Kevin Garnett, who needed 13 points to tie Patrick Ewing for 16th on the NBA’s career scoring list, was two-for-11 from the field and scored just seven points to go with his 10 rebounds.
Hakim Warrick and Ramon Sessions had 16 points apiece for the Bobcats, who lost their third straight and their 23rd in the last 25 games since opening the season 7-5.
MAVERICKS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 98
In Dallas, Texas, Darren Collison led six players in double figures with 23 points and the Mavericks matched their season high with a third straight win in a victory against Minnesota.
J.J. Barea, who was injured in two previous trips to Dallas, led the Timberwolves with 21 points.
The Timberwolves finished a 0-4 road trip that coach Rick Adelman missed for personal reasons.
O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand had 20 points each for Dallas. It was a season high for Brand. Mayo also had nine assists.
THUNDER 102, SUNS 90
In Phoenix, Arizona, Kevin Durant scored 27 of his 41 points in the second half and Oklahoma City became the NBA’s first 30-game winner of the season with a victory over the Suns.
Russell Westbrook added 36 for the Thunder, but it was Durant who took over in his fourth 40-point game of the season, scoring 19 in the fourth quarter and falling one shy of the season-high 42 he scored two games earlier against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Oklahoma City won their fourth straight, the last three on the road to improve their NBA-best record to 30-8. Durant scored 33 Sunday night in an 87-83 win at Portland.
Shannon Brown scored 21 for the Suns. Marcin Gortat had 19 points.
JAZZ 104, HEAT 97
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Al Jefferson scored 23 points, Gordon Hayward added 22 — including a jumper with 40 seconds remaining — and the Jazz held on to beat Miami.
The Heat were down 21 points in the third quarter, but fought back to pull within two behind a 32-point effort by LeBron James. However, James was called for goaltending and an offensive foul on back-to-back possessions late, then missed a three-pointer with Miami down six with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left.
Chris Bosh added 16 points for Miami and Rashard Lewis had 13 off the bench.
KINGS 124, CAVALIERS 118
In Sacramento, California, DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and the Sacramento Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jimmer Fredette and Cousins both scored eight points in the fourth quarter for the struggling Kings, who had allowed nearly 118 points per game during the losing streak and had three losses of 20 points or more.
Reserve Dion Waiters scored a career-high 33 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost three straight and eight of 10.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was