Clarkson, Randle big stars in LA
Jordan Clarkson had 29 points and 10 assists, Julius Randle added 27 points and 12 rebounds, and the Lakers beat the New York Knicks, 127-107, yesterday in Los Angeles for their sixth win in eight games.
Kyle Kuzma added 15 points for the Lakers (17-29), who continued their midseason surge of solid play. Rookie point guard Alex Caruso set career highs with nine points and eight assists, making the most of extensive playing time in the absence of injured Lonzo Ball.
Los Angeles will look to maintain its momentum tomorrow night when the Celtics visit the Staples Center.
Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Michael Beasley scored 17 points apiece for the Knicks, who have lost 12-of-16. New York slipped to 2-2 on its seven-game trip.
Despite a solid shooting game, the Knicks couldn’t keep up down the stretch with the Lakers, whose up-tempo offense flowed throughout their highest-scoring game in two weeks.
Ball missed his fourth consecutive game with a sore left knee, and Lakers coach Luke Walton said the rookie point guard might miss several more games. But Clarkson followed up his 33-point performance Friday against Indiana with another high-energy effort. The veteran guard hit 12 of his 19 shots and added six rebounds.
Los Angeles took the lead late in the third quarter and pulled away down the stretch, scoring 10 consecutive points in a rally led by Clarkson and Randle. The Lakers finished the game on a 17-4 run.
Porzingis played only 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but the Knicks kept it close by hitting 59 percent of their shots. Clarkson had another strong half in his recent run of excellent play, scoring 14 points.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also missed his second straight game for the Lakers with a right heel injury.
Nets 101, Pistons 100 — Spencer Dinwiddie’s jumper with 0.9 seconds left pushed visiting Brooklyn past Detroit, which suffered its fifth straight loss.
After a basket by Andre Drummond put the Pistons ahead with 4.7 seconds left, Dinwiddie took the inbounds pass, drove to 14 feet and drained a jumper. Caris LeVert split a pair of free throws with 13.7 seconds left, giving the Nets a 99-98 edge.
Langston Galloway misplayed the ensuing inbounds pass, but was able to knock the ball to Drummond. Detroit’s center nearly traveled in a rare drive from outside the 3-point arc, and flipped in a go-ahead shot.
Dinwiddie finished with 22 points. Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 20.
Pacers 94, Spurs 86 — Victor Oladipo scored 19 points and Indiana snapped San Antonio’s 14-game home winning streak.
Darren Collison added 15 points for the Pacers, who snapped a three-game losing streak in San Antonio. The Spurs lost at home for the third time this season and the first since Nov. 10 against Milwaukee.
Pau Gasol had 14 points to lead San Antonio. With Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay and Kawhi Leonard out with injuries, the Spurs opted to bring Tony Parker (12 points, five assists) off the bench for just the 14th time in 1,165 career games.