Kevin Durant scored 29 points on Sunday to lead the Thunder to a 131-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, who were without All-Star Blake Griffin.
The Clippers announced before the game that Griffin would be out indefinitely because of a staph infection in his right elbow. Without him, the Clippers fell to their most lopsided loss of the season.
Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and rookie Mitch McGary had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who shot 52 percent and moved back above the .500 mark.
Jamal Crawford scored 21 points, and Chris Paul had 18 points and 13 assists for the Clippers.
GRIZZLIES 94, HAWKS 88
Mike Conley had 21 points and six assists, and Marc Gasol finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, as Memphis beat Atlanta.
The game was tied at 86 after Mike Scott’s three-pointer with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left before Memphis scored the next eight points to put away the game.
Zach Randolph had 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Kosta Koufos finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, as Memphis outrebounded the Hawks 55-37.
One of those rebounds provided the tiebreaking basket, with Tony Allen tipping in Randolph’s miss to make it 88-86 with 2 minutes, 28 seconds remaining.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 22 points, shooting nine of 13, while Kent Bazemore added 14 points. Dennis Schroder and Scott finished with 11 apiece off the Atlanta bench and DeMarre Carroll scored 10.
CAVALIERS 120, LAKERS 105
Kevin Love scored a season-high 32 points and LeBron James flirted with a triple-double as Cleveland quickly got back to winning ways.
The Cavs had their 12-game winning streak snapped on Friday last week, a run that started when they beat the Lakers on Jan. 15. This time, Love made five three-pointers in the second quarter and two more in the third as Cleveland opened a 26-point lead.
James scored 22 with 10 rebounds and eight assists in three quarters. All-Star guard Kyrie Irving added 28 points and 10 assists.
Rookie Jordan Clarkson scored a career-high 20 for the Lakers, who matched a franchise worst with their 10th straight road loss. Los Angeles have not won away from the Staples Center since Dec. 30 last year at Denver. The Lakers also lost 10 in a row on the road in the 1957-1958 and 1963-1964 seasons.
RAPTORS 87, SPURS 82
James Johnson scored a season-high 20 points in his return to the starting lineup and DeMar DeRozan had 18, as Toronto denied Spurs coach Gregg Popovich his 1,000th career victory.
Amir Johnson added 15 points, Kyle Lowry 12 and Jonas Valanciunas had a season-high 16 rebounds, as Toronto improved to 8-2 at home against Western Conference opponents. The Raptors snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Spurs and won for the first time in five home meetings.
Tim Duncan and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 points, Kawhi Leonard had 11 and Tony Parker 10, as the Spurs shot 31 for 93 (.333), their worst performance of the season. San Antonio’s previous low was .344 at Houston on Nov. 6 last year in a 98-81 defeat.
TRAIL BLAZERS 109, ROCKETS 98
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points and Damian Lillard added 23 to help Portland fight off a late charge from Houston.
James Harden tied a season high with 45 points for the Rockets, who are playing without star center Dwight Howard, out indefinitely with knee swelling.
The Trail Blazers led by 17 in the second half, but a big third quarter helped Houston to a slim lead early in the fourth quarter. Portland scored seven straight points to break a tie and take a 92-85 lead midway through the period, with five points from Meyers Leonard in that stretch.
Houston cut the lead to four points twice in the last 2 minutes, but Portland answered both times.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Bulls 98, Magic 97
‧ Kings 85, Suns 83
‧ Pacers 103, Hornets 102
‧ Timberwolves 112, Pistons 101
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but