Kyle Lowry scored 22 points, including a pair of clinching free-throws with 9.8 seconds left, to help the Toronto Raptors hand the Oklahoma City Thunder their first home loss this season with a 104-98 victory on Sunday night.
The Raptors outscored Oklahoma City 6-0 in the game’s final 1 minute, 25 seconds — all from the free-throw line — to end the Thunder’s nine-game winning streak.
Oklahoma City had been 13-0 at home, the NBA’s longest unbeaten stretch to open a season since the Cavaliers won their first 23 home games in the 2007-2008 season.
Amir Johnson had 17 points and 13 assists for Toronto, who won their fourth straight road game to post the franchise’s longest such streak since 2002, while it was Oklahoma City’s first loss since falling to Portland on Dec. 4.
Russell Westbrook scored 27 points and Kevin Durant added 24 for the Thunder, who missed their final four shots.
CLIPPERS 120, TIMBERWOLVES 116, OT
In Los Angeles, Jared Dudley made a go-ahead three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining in overtime, while Chris Paul made five free-throws in the final 19 seconds to lead Los Angeles over Minnesota.
Blake Griffin had 32 points and 10 rebounds and was an uncharacteristic 10 for 11 from the free-throw line before fouling out with 4:08 left in overtime.
The defending Pacific Division champions extended their winning streak to a season-best five games, while beating the Timberwolves for the eighth straight time, their longest streak against any opponent.
Jamal Crawford had 22 points for Los Angeles, while Paul finished with 19 points and 13 assists.
Kevin Love had a season-high 45 points and tied a season-best 19 rebounds, while Nikola Pekovic had a career-high 34 points and 14 boards for the Timberwolves, who were back at the Staples Center after their loss to the Lakers on Friday.
PACERS 106, CELTICS 79
In Indianapolis, Indiana, Paul George scored 24 points and Lance Stephenson recorded his third triple-double of the season, as the Pacers routed Boston.
Stephenson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Indiana’s (22-5) second straight win, which maintained their grip on the Eastern Conference’s best record.
He is the only player in the league with more than one triple-double this season.
Avery Bradley scored 13 points for Boston, while Courtney Lee and Jeff Green each had 11 in coach Brad Stevens’ return to his hometown, but there was no magic on the night for the Celtics, who lost their third in a row.
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
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