Heat’s streak hits 10 as Lebron
Nets triple-double; Clips top Jazz
PHILADELPHIA – With slightly more than 10 minutes to play in their 114-90 win over the 76ers, LeBron James, moments after hitting a short bank shot that added on to what was already an insurmountable lead, made his way to the Miami Heat bench.
As he slipped into his warmup, James, who finished with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds while playing long stretches at power forward, chatted with the fans behind the Heat bench. He gave a thumbsup sign to two guys dying for attention, and he smiled at a few smartphone cameras before retiring for the night.
On the court, teammate Dwyane Wade & Co. had things well in hand.
Wade finished with a gamehigh 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting, and the Heat had no trouble extending their season-high winning streak to 10 games and notching their 12th straight win over the Sixers.
The loss, the Sixers’ fourth in a row, dropped their record to 22-31, leaving them nine games below .500.
Led by Jrue Holiday’s 21 points, six assists and six rebounds, the Sixers were in the game until Miami, which led by 26 points in the fourth quarter, used a 52-30 run to put the game away.
The Sixers face the Heat three more times this season. Whether or not they do so with center Andrew Bynum on the roster might not matter.
“We did a lot of good things in the first half,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said. “But that team, when they go small and put LeBron at the four, is impossible to guard. You can’t guard them. They are so good when they have their small unit out there.
“At one point I looked at our coaches and said, ‘what do you take away from them?’ “Collins said. “I don’t see any weaknesses.”
(Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)
Clippers 107, Jazz 94 LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers registered a comprehensive win over the Utah Jazz at the Staples Center on Saturday to rebound from their thrashing at the hands of San Antonio Spurs.
Humbled 116-90 at home to the Spurs last time out, the Clippers redeemed themselves in front of their fans with the clinical win over Utah, pulling away with a big third quarter.
Los Angeles led by two at the half but outscored their opponents 36-20 in the third to run away with Blake Griffin, Caron Butler and Lamar Odom leading the way.
Griffin and Odom scored 18 points each while Butler put away a team high 21 points of his own along with five rebounds.
The win moved the Clippers to 40-18 on the year, keeping them in control on top of the Pacific Division.
It also ensured a four-game season sweep of the Jazz for the first time since 1978-79.
RESULTS
Saturday’s results (HOME TEAMS IN CAPS): WASHINGTON 105, Houston 103; Denver 113, CHARLOTTE 99; Cleveland 118, ORLANDO 94; Miami 114, PHILADELPHIA 90; Indiana 90, DETROIT 72; Atlanta 103, MILWAUKEE 102; LA CLIPPERS 107, Utah 94.