Will iam s sc ores 50 in vic to ry
Durant milestone night spoiled by loss
Lou Williams scored a career-high 50 points as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled a milestone night for Kevin Durant with a 125-106 victory on Wednesday.
Durant became the 44th player in league history to score 20,000 career points, reaching the achievement with a pull-up jump shot late in the second quarter.
NBA Finals MVP Durant needed 25 points to get to 20,000 and that is the number he finished on at the end of the first half. At age 29 he is the second-youngest to do it behind LeBron James.
“He is one of the all-time greats,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr of Durant, who finished with 40 points.
Williams tallied 27 of his 50 points in the third quarter for the visiting Clippers, who beat Golden State for the first time in more than three years.
Williams also had eight threepointers and seven assists, and rookie Tyrone Wallace came off the bench to score a season-high 22 points.
Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler finished with 26 points and eight assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the struggling Oklahoma City 104-88, handing the Thunder their third consecutive loss.
Center KarlAnthony Towns tallied 18 points and 12 assists for the Timberwolves, who are playing some of their best basketball of the season and have three straight resounding home wins in a row.
Andrew Wiggins finished with 19 points in 42 minutes of playing time for the Timberwolves.
Thunder star Russell Westbrook had a game-high 38 points and 10 rebounds but he didn’t get much help from his supporting cast. Carmelo Anthony continues to struggle with his new team as he finished with 15 points and one rebound.
Paul George was the only other Thunder player in double figures with 13 points as Oklahoma City have lost five of their last seven games. The loss drops the Thunder to 22-20 on the
season and into sixth place as they dropped below Portland in the Western Conference standings.
Minnesota are on the rise having beaten New Orleans, Cleveland and Oklahoma City in recent home games thanks to their improving defense and consistently solid offence.
Minnesota had won seven of eight games before a disappointing East Coast road trip featured losses at Brooklyn and Boston.
Then the Wolves beat New Orleans at home and led by as many as 34 points, a season-high mark to that point. Hosting James and Cleveland on Monday, Minnesota dominated play, led by as many as 41 points on their way to a 127-99 victory.