Clippers spoil Durant's night
OAKLAND, Calif. — Lou Williams scored 27 of his career-high 50 points in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors for the first time in more than three years with a 125-106 win Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) that spoiled a milestone night for Kevin Durant.
Williams shot 16-for-27 with a career-best eight threepointers and made all 10 of his free throws.
Durant became the 44th player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points, finishing with 40 as the Warriors had their five-game winning streak snapped along with a 12game unbeaten stretch in the Clippers rivalry.
Durant reached the milestone on a pull-up jumper from the left wing at the 1:41 mark of the second quarter. The Warriors announced his accomplishment on the main scoreboard and Durant received a standing ovation, shaking his head in acknowledgment while still very much in game mode.
By late in the fourth quarter, that crowd was making its way for the exits with the game out of reach.
BULLS 122, KNICKS 119
Rookie Lauri Markkanen scored a season-high 33 points, Kris Dunn shook off a nightmarish shooting night to make the tiebreaking basket in the second overtime, and the Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks.
Dunn had missed 14 of his first 17 shots before banking in a runner with just under a minute left in the second extra period, and Markkanen finished it off by making two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining.
Robin Lopez and Denzel Valentine each scored 20 points for the Bulls in their third narrow victory over the Knicks this season. Markkanen made eight 3-pointers though his highlight play was at the rim, when he threw down a dunk over Knicks center Enes Kanter.
ROCKETS 121, TRAIL BLAZERS 112
Chris Paul scored a season-high 37 points, and Eric Gordon added 30 as the Houston Rockets withstood a late run to get a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers used a big run to cut a 14-point deficit to three with about three minutes left. Houston responded with a 6-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Paul, to make it 111104 about a minute later.
Damian Lillard made a layup on the other end, but Paul cut through three defenders to make an off-balance layup to push the lead to 113-106.
The Blazers couldn't get the ball in after a timeout, Houston got the ball back and Clint Capela added two free throws to secure the victory.
MAVERICKS 115, HORNETS 111
Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr. had a simple strategy in the fourth quarter when it came to Harrison Barnes. "Give him the ball and get out of the way," Smith said. Barnes had 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Yogi Ferrell made seven 3-pointers and scored 22 points and the Mavericks fended off fatigue to beat a fresh Charlotte Hornets. Barnes made all five of his shots in the fourth quarter and added 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who won on backto-back nights.
Barnes said he liked his matchup against Frank Kaminsky in the fourth quarter.
GRIZZLIES 105, PELICANS 102
After a poor defensive performance in the first quarter, the Memphis Grizzlies turned up the pressure all the way until the last minute.
The Grizzlies held New Orleans to a mere nine points in the third period and then forced a key turnover by DeMarcus Cousins in the final seven seconds to help them defeat the Pelican.