Clippers get revenge as Suns rally past Spurs
THE Los Angeles Clippers avenged a Christmas Day loss with a 113-97 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday’s rematch at Staples Center arena.
The Lakers beat the undermanned Clippers 111-102 three weeks ago as injuries forced Chris Paul, JJ Redick and Blake Griffin to watch the game from the sidelines.
It was one of just two wins the Lakers had in the month of December and it halted the Clippers’ 11-game win streak. The lowly Lakers have gone 3-4 in January after losing 14 of 16 games in December.
The Clippers dominated every area in the return meeting as Paul has returned to the line-up and JJ Redick is back at full strength after suffering a hamstring injury in the Lakers contest.
“We came out today. We played and we won. It’s not a big deal,” said Paul. “We’re just trying to pile up wins. That’s our single focus.”
Griffin is still out with another in a long list of injuries but the Clippers have shown they can have success without him in the lineup.
Elsewhere, PJ Tucker hit two free throws with four seconds to play as the Phoenix Suns rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 108-105 at Mexico City Arena as part of the NBA Global Games series.
“We took a loss earlier in the week, and from that we knew we had things to work on to be able to stay with the Spurs,” Devin Booker said.
“I just wanted to give the people of Mexico City a show – they deserve that for all the support they give our team – and I think we did.”
In Chicago, Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and Dwyane Wade had 17 of his 22 in the fourth quarter as Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a 107-99 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.