San Antonio took advantage of Los Angeles being without injured All-Star Chris Paul and comfortably beat the Clippers 116-92 in Saturday’s clash of the NBA divisional leaders.
The win moved the Spurs into equal second in the Western Conference standings, behind new leader Oklahoma City, who got a super performance from Kevin Durant in their comeback win over Minnesota and moved above Portland, who were narrowly beaten at home by Philadelphia.
San Antonio’s Tiago Splitter had 22 points before leaving with a shoulder injury and Tim Duncan added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Photo: EPA
Jamal Crawford scored 24 points for the Clippers, who missed Paul after he suffered a shoulder injury on Friday against Dallas.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 23 of his season-high 48 points in the fourth quarter and hit the winner with four seconds to play, rallying the Thunder from 13 points down in a 115-111 victory over Minnesota.
Durant went 7-for-11 from the field and hit four three-pointers in the final quarter, while Derek Fisher scored 13 points for the Thunder, who won despite being outscored 46-66 in the key.
Kevin Love played the entire second half and finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Wolves. However, he missed four free throws in the final 27s to let this one slip away. The last three came when he was fouled on a three-point shot with 2.2s to go and the Wolves down by two.
Indiana, the overall league leader, improved to 26-6 by beating New Orleans 99-82, overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit.
Paul George had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead four Pacers in double figures, with Lance Stephenson scoring 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Indiana went on a 14-0 run over a 4 minute 12 second span of the third quarter as the Pelicans missed seven-straight field goals.
Eric Gordon finished with 21 points for the Pelicans, but only four in the second half.
Philadelphia made it four-straight wins — all on the road — by beating Portland 101-99, led by 30 points from Thaddeus Young.
Evan Turner added 23 points for the 76ers, and rookie Michael Carter-Williams had 16, but fell hard on the court at the final buzzer when he was trying to keep Damian Lillard from scoring the tying basket. After a few moments he got up holding his head.
Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 14 rebounds for his 20th double-double this season.
Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each had 20 points, helping the Heat rally for a 110-94 win over state rival Orlando.
Rashard Lewis added 18 points for the Heat, who have now won 22 consecutive games against divisional rivals, moving within one victory of tying Boston’s record set in 1961.
Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 21 points.
Chicago’s Mike Dunleavy scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, steering the Bulls to a 91-84 victory against Atlanta.
Phoenix’s Gerald Green had 24 points and a career-high five steals starting in place of the injured Eric Bledsoe, pushing the Suns to a 116-100 win over Milwaukee.
Charlotte arrested a season-worst five-game losing skid by defeating Sacramento 113-103, with Kemba Walker scoring 30 points.
Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce had 17 points to move up to 19th place on the NBA’s career scoring list, above Allen Iverson, helping the Nets down Cleveland 89-82.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Tony Jefferson intercepted a Jalen Hurts pass in overtime to give the Los Angeles Chargers a 22-19 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday in an NFL thriller between playoff contenders. Justin Herbert, playing a week after surgery on his broken left (non-throwing) hand, withstood a career-high seven sacks to throw for 139 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers. Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals, including the 54-yard game winner in overtime. The Chargers defenders forced Hurts to throw four interceptions and surrender a fumble for a career-worst five turnovers as the Eagles fell to 8-5 with a third
RSS