NEW YORK — Blake Griffin scored a season-high 32 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat New York 119-115 on Wednesday night after former Knicks star Charles Oakley was ejected and arrested in the first quarter. ADVERTISING NEW YORK —
NEW YORK — Blake Griffin scored a season-high 32 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat New York 119-115 on Wednesday night after former Knicks star Charles Oakley was ejected and arrested in the first quarter.
DeAndre Jordan added 28 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to snap a three-game losing streak.
Carmelo Anthony had 28 points and Kristaps Porzingis 27 on a night there was plenty of fight from the Knicks — especially Oakley. The rugged power forward was removed after an altercation with arena security near the seat of Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan.
Anthony played well the day after Phil Jackson took another dig at him on Twitter by referencing an article that was critical of the forward. Coach Jeff Hornacek acknowledged it may have been a distraction but one he expected the Knicks to play through, and they had a chance to tie before Anthony missed a 3-pointer down 118-115.
Griffin then put it away with a free throw with 5.9 seconds left.
HEAT 106, BUCKS 88
MILWAUKEE — Hassan Whiteside had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 12 games with a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
A lackluster night for the Bucks got worse with 6:34 left in the third quarter when Jabari Parker, part of the team’s young core, left the game with a sprained left knee. Parker hurt the same knee two seasons ago.
James Johnson added 20 points for the Heat. All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Parker finished with 14 points.
CAVALIERS 132, PACERS 117
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Korver scored a season-high 29 points and LeBron James gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a second-half energy boost, lifting the defending champs over the Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland has won the first three games on its four-game road trip and six of its last seven overall.
James had 25 points, six rebounds and nine assists and Korver hit 8 of 9 3-pointers. Kyrie Irving had 29 points.
C.J. Miles scored 23 points to lead the Pacers, who ended a season-best seven-game winning streak. Jeff Teague had 22 points and 14 assists.
Indiana led most of the first half and still had a 63-57 edge at halftime. James scored 16 points in the second half while Cleveland rallied. The Cavs went on a 14-2 run in the third quarter to lead 78-72, extended the margin to 14 at the end of three and never let the Pacers seriously challenge again.
KINGS 108, CELTICS 92
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Darren Collison scored 25 points and the Sacramento Kings, playing without suspended All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, snapped the Boston Celtics’ seven-game winning streak.
The Kings played an inspired second half, outscoring the Celtics 59-43. Ben McLemore finished with 17 points, Matt Barnes had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Willie Cauley-Stein also had 14 points. Anthony Tolliver finished with 11.
Isaiah Thomas had 26 points and seven assists for the Celtics in the opener of their four-game road trip. Amir Johnson had 14 points and Al Horford and Marcus Smart each had 10. Boston shot 5 of 15 and was outscored
Cousins was serving an automatic one-game suspension without pay after he picked up two more technical fouls Monday against Chicago, giving him an NBA-worst 16.
WARRIORS 123, BULLS 92
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant responded from his worst game since joining the Warriors with 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and Golden State beat the Chicago Bulls for a 138th straight regular-season game without consecutive defeats.
Klay Thompson scored 28 points with six 3-pointers playing on his 27th birthday, Stephen Curry added 13 points and six rebounds and the Warriors had all five starters score in double figures for the fourth time.
Golden State hasn’t lost consecutive regular-season games since April 5 and 7, 2015, at San Antonio and New Orleans, during its championship season. This was the Warriors’ eighth win following a loss this season and 17th in a row overall since those dates in ‘15.
Robin Lopez had 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the undermanned Bulls playing back in the Bay Area where he attended Stanford.
SPURS 111, 76ERS 103
PHILADELPHIA — Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, Tony Parker added 18 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jahlil Okafor had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Dario Saric also scored 20 for Philadelphia, which has lost five straight games.
The Sixers were again without star center Joel Embiid. The rookie missed his sixth straight game because of a left knee contusion. Philadelphia is 13-18 with Embiid, 5-16 without him.
The Spurs bounced back following a loss at Memphis and improved the NBA’s second-best record to 40-12.
After trailing the entire game, the Sixers pulled within 87-85 on a pair of free throws by Okafor with 7:35 left. But San Antonio went on a 16-5 run to put it away.
WIZARDS 114, NETS 110, OT
Bradley Beal scored 31 points, John Wall added 23 points and 12 assists, and Otto Porter Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Washington Wizards sent the Brooklyn Nets to their 11th straight loss.
Jason Smith scored 15 points and Marcin Gortat added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards, who won for the eighth time in their last nine games.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 21 points. Brook Lopez, who finished with 20 points, fouled out with 1:20 left in regulation as Brooklyn dropped its 13th in a row at home.
Porter’s two free throws with 1:21 left in overtime snapped a 107-107 tie and gave the Wizards the lead for good.
HAWKS 117, NUGGETS 106
ATLANTA — Dennis Schroder had 24 points and 10 assists and the Atlanta Hawks held off a late rally by Denver to beat the Nuggets.
The Hawks never trailed and scored a season-high 72 points in the first half. The Nuggets cut Atlanta’s lead to 109-105 on a basket by Gary Harris with less than three minutes remaining.
Following a turnover by Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore, Denver couldn’t take advantage of the chance to pull closer. A three-point play by Paul Millsap, who had 23 points, pushed the lead back to seven points with 1:47 remaining. Schroder made two free throws for a 114-105 lead.
Wilson Chandler led Denver with 24 points.
Denver forward Kenneth Faried left after spraining his right ankle early in the second quarter. He needed assistance leaving the court. The team said X-rays were negative.
PISTONS 121, LAKERS 102
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Andre Drummond had 24 points and 17 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons handed the Los Angeles Lakers one more loss at The Palace.
It was the final scheduled appearance at The Palace for the Lakers, since the Pistons are set to move downtown next season. Some of Detroit’s best memories in Auburn Hills came at the expense of Los Angeles. The Lakers went 0-5 in NBA Finals games at this arena as Detroit took titles at their expense in 1989 and 2004.
The Pistons led 56-50 at halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter. Detroit went on an 11-0 run to take an 82-61 lead.
Jon Leuer scored 20 points for the Pistons, who have won four of five. Tobias Harris added 19 points.
Julius Randle and Lou Williams scored 17 points apiece for the Lakers.
GRIZZLIES 110, SUNS 91
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Mike Conley scored 23 points, Marc Gasol added 19 and the Memphis Grizzlies took advantage of the Phoenix Suns’ poor shooting.
Memphis held Phoenix to 33 percent shooting while six Grizzlies reached double figures. Memphis won its third straight and sixth in its last seven. Troy Daniels had 14 points for the Grizzlies, and JaMychal Green finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 20 points and Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight each finished with 16 for Phoenix, which lost its eighth in the last nine.
Booker fouled Daniels as he made a 3-pointer with 1:10 left, and the pair exchanged words. It escalated into a skirmish between players on both teams. Six players received technical fouls and three players were ejected, including Daniels.
TIMBERWOLVES 112, RAPTORS 109
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Wiggins scored 31 points against his hometown team, Tyus Jones hit a 3-pointer with 19.5 seconds left and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Toronto Raptors.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points and 14 rebounds and Wiggins hit 11 of 19 shots to help the Timberwolves snap a four-game losing streak. Minnesota committed just eight turnovers, and Shabazz Muhammad scored 22 points off the bench.
DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points and DeMarre Carroll hit all five of his 3s and finished with 19 points and nine boards for the Raptors, who led by 13 points in the first half. Kyle Lowry added 20 points and Toronto shot 53 percent from the field, but Lowry missed a potential tying 3 at the buzzer.
JAZZ 127, PELICANS 94
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Joe Johnson scored 27 points, George Hill added 19, and the Utah Jazz extended their winning streak to four games with a victory over the struggling New Orleans Pelicans.
Gordon Hayward scored 17 points in 26 minutes and got the whole fourth quarter off after Utah led by as many as 21 in the third quarter. The Jazz led for all but the first three minutes and were up by as many as 39 in the final period. Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Utah, which outrebounded New Orleans 48-37.
Anthony Davis’ offensive production was well below his standard against Utah’s front court tandem of Gobert and Derrick Favors. He scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting to go with 10 rebounds six blocks.
Terrence Jones scored 21 points and Jrue Holiday 15 for New Orleans, which has lost five of six.
