Blake Griffin had 20 points and Chris Paul shook off a sprained ankle to score 18 points to rally the Los Angeles Clippers past the Utah Jazz 96-87 on Friday, extending their winning streak to 10 straight games.
Los Angeles had their lowest points total during the streak, but the Clippers won this time with defense, forcing 20 turnovers by the Jazz that led to 31 points.
The Jazz led 70-60 in the third quarter, but the Clippers capitalized on a rash of Utah miscues and poor shot selection to go on a 20-2 run.
Paul landed awkwardly after a layup, spraining his left ankle.
The point guard limped up and down the court, but still led the Clippers’ come-from-behind, third-quarter burst. He had seven points and three assists in the six-minute run that ended with Will Green’s three-pointer with 10 minutes, 37 seconds to play that made it 80-72.
PACERS 101, 76ERS 94
In Philadelphia, Paul George scored 25 points, while David West had 18 to help Indiana beat Philadelphia, sending the 76ers to their 19th straight loss.
With a loss to Memphis yesterday, the Sixers may tie the franchise record for consecutive defeats in a single season. The Sixers lost 20 straight games in 1973 in a 9-73 season. The NBA record for consecutive losses in a season is 26, set by the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Sixers last won on Jan. 29 on Evan Turner’s buzzer-beater at Boston. Turner was traded to the Pacers at the Feb. 20 deadline and is now a key reserve on a team expected to make a deep run in the NBA playoffs.
Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 25 points and 10 assists.
NUGGETS 111, HEAT 107
In Miami, Kenneth Faried scored 24 points, while Darrell Arthur led a big effort from Denver’s bench with 18 as Denver handed suddenly reeling Miami their fifth loss in six games.
Evan Fournier scored 14, Ty Lawson had 13 and J.J. Hickson added 11 for the Nuggets. Denver’s reserves scored 57 points.
Ray Allen scored 22 points for Miami, who fell three games behind Indiana in the race for the No. 1 Eastern Conference seed in the playoffs.
LeBron James scored 21 points and Dwyane Wade added 19 for the Heat, who turned the ball over 20 times and shot seven-for-24 from three-point range.
It was only the fifth win for Denver in their past 18 games.
SPURS 119, LAKERS 85
In San Antonio, Danny Green had 15 points as San Antonio won their ninth straight and handed the Lakers their largest defeat in their longtime rivalry.
San Antonio never trailed after the opening four minutes, allowing coach Gregg Popovich to limit his starters and Manu Ginobili to an average of 17 minutes.
The Spurs had five reserves score in double-figures, led by Matt Bonner’s 13 points and 10 rebounds. San Antonio (49-16) maintained the league’s best record ahead of Indiana and Oklahoma City, who are both 48-17.
Pau Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles, who have lost five of six.
WIZARDS 105, MAGIC 101, OT
In Orlando, Florida, John Wall had 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Trevor Ariza added 21 points and 11 rebounds as Washington beat Orlando in overtime.
The victory ends the Wizards’ seven-game road losing streak to the Magic.
Bradley Beal added 20 points before being helped off the court with an injury in overtime. Marcin Gortat finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Tobias Harris had 21 points and Arron Afflalo finished with 18 to lead the Magic. Orlando has now lost five in a row and 11 of their past 14.
RAPTORS 99, GRIZZLIES 86
In Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 23 points, while Kyle Lowry had 22 points and 12 assists as Toronto won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Greivis Vasquez scored 17 points, DeMar DeRozan had 16 and Amir Johnson 12 as the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors ended a four-game home losing streak against the Grizzlies and improved to 16-0 at home this season when leading after three quarters.
Ten of DeRozan’s points came in the fourth quarter, helping Toronto win back-to-back games against the Grizzlies after losing eight of their previous nine meetings.
Zach Randolph scored 16 points as Memphis saw its four-game winning streak broken.
SUNS 87, CELTICS 80
In Boston, Goran Dragic scored 20 points as Phoenix scored the past seven points of the game to beat cold-shooting Boston.
BOBCATS 105, TIMBERWOLVES 93
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Al Jefferson had 25 points and 16 rebounds as Charlotte defeated Minnesota for their eighth straight victory at home.
Jefferson set a single-season team record with his 20th 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season.
The Bobcats, currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoff standings, came in averaging 103.9 points and shooting 47 percent in their last seven homes games. They shot 48 percent against the Timberwolves.
Kevin Martin had 19 points to lead Minnesota.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 111, Pelicans 103
‧ Cavaliers 103, Warriors 94
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite