Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 29 points in the third quarter and Mirza Teletovic scored 17 off the bench as the Brooklyn Nets beat Miami for the third time in as many games this season, topping the Heat 96-95 on Wednesday.
Shaun Livingston scored 13 points, Andray Blatche added 11 and Deron Williams had eight assists for the Nets, who have won seven of their past eight games to be 23-9 since Jan. 1.
Chris Bosh scored 24 points for Miami, giving him 15,003 for his career. Dwyane Wade scored 22, LeBron James finished with 19 and Mario Chalmers scored 14 for the Heat.
CLIPPERS 111, WARRIORS 98
In Los Angeles, Blake Griffin had 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Danny Granger added 18 points off the bench as Los Angeles surged past Golden State for their ninth straight victory.
Chris Paul had 16 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who split their four-game season series against their Pacific Division rivals with an impressive finish to a tight game.
Los Angeles have the third-longest winning streak in club history and the team’s best record after 66 games (46-20).
Klay Thompson scored 26 points and David Lee had 20 for the Warriors, whose five-game winning streak ended with their fourth straight loss to the Clippers at Staples Center. Stephen Curry had just 13 points and 11 assists before sitting out the final minutes.
KINGS 115, 76ERS 98
In Philadelphia, Rudy Gay scored 27 points, while Isaiah Thomas added 20 as Sacramento extended Philadelphia’s losing streak to 18 games.
DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben McLemore scored 15 points for the Kings, who snapped a three-game skid. Jason Thompson added 14.
The Kings are in the midst of a seven-game, 12-day road trip, their longest of the season. They are 2-3 on the trip.
Henry Sims posted career-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds, James Anderson added 17 points and Thaddeus Young had 16 for Philadelphia, who fell to 15-49 in dropping their 14th in a row at home, an ongoing franchise record. Michael Carter-Williams had 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists two nights after earning his second career triple-double.
SPURS 103, TRAIL BLAZERS 90
In San Antonio, Patty Mills scored 15 points, and Tim Duncan had 10 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes as San Antonio rolled to their eighth straight win.
Damian Lillard had 23 points for Portland, which lost LaMarcus Aldridge to a bruised back early in the second half.
Danny Green added 14 points for San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 13, Kawhi Leonard had 12 and Tiago Splitter had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
San Antonio’s bench outscored Portland’s 46-23, enabling coach Gregg Popovich to limit Duncan, Parker, Ginboli, Splitter and Green to less than 30 minutes.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Knicks 116, Celtics 92
‧ Cavaliers 110, Suns 101
‧ Raptors 101, Pistons 87
‧ Grizzlies 90, Pelicans 88
‧ Mavericks 108, Jazz 101
‧ Bobcats 98, Wizards 85
‧ Nuggets 120, Magic 112
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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
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