Williams sparks Clippers to win
Lou Williams got going in the fourth quarter and carried the Los Angeles Clippers to a much-needed victory.
Williams scored 26 points, with 18 coming in the final quarter, to help the Clippers overcome an 18-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 117-106 on Sunday night.
Tobias Harris scored 20 points and Montrezl Harrell added 19 as the Clippers boosted their playoff hopes by winning for the second time in seven games and ending their road trip with a 2-2 mark.
“Everybody did good things tonight,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “We challenged them at halftime and I thought every single guy came out and played great.”
Williams connected on seven of 11 shot attempts in the fourth, scoring 12 consecutive points for the Clippers in one stretch.
“It makes it a lot easier to run the offense,” Rivers said. “It was, give it to Lou, basically.”
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan played with Williams in Toronto in 2014-15, when Williams won the Sixth Man award.
“When you’ve got a scorer like Lou, it gets to a point once he sees that ball go in, it doesn’t matter what you do to him,” DeRozan said. “He showed it tonight.”
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who dropped to 30-7 at home, the best mark in the NBA. ROCKETS 118, HAWKS 99 >> James Harden had 18 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in three quarters in Houston’s romp over Atlanta.
The NBA-leading Rockets have won nine straight and became the 18th team in NBA history to reach 60 wins in the 74th game of the season.
Taurean Prince scored 28 and Isaiah Taylor had 26 for the Hawks, who have lost nine of their last 10. CAVALIERS 121, NETS 114 >> LeBron James had 37 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Cleveland, which beat Brooklyn for its fifth consecutive victory.
James reached 2,000 points in a season for the 10th time, joining Karl Malone and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to do that.
Joe Harris scored a career-high 30 points for the Nets.
BUCKS 106, SPURS 103 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from an ankle injury to score 25 points for Milwaukee, which held on to defeat San Antonio.
The Spurs trailed by 15 points with 8 minutes left before rallying to get within three with 35 seconds left. The loss snapped the Spurs’ six-game winning streak. CELTICS 104, KINGS 93 >> Terry Rozier scored a seasonhigh 33 points and nearly matched Boston’s franchise record for 3-pointers. Making his sixth start in place of injured point guard Kyrie Irving, Rozier shot 12 of 16, including 8 of 12 on 3s. The eight 3-pointers were one shy of the Celtics’ singlegame record of nine shared by Isaiah Thomas and Antoine Walker.
Buddy Hield scored 24 points for Sacramento. PACERS 113, HEAT 107 (OT) >> Victor Oladipo had 23 points and five assists to help Indiana beat Miami and clinch a playoff berth.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra missed the game after learning his wife Nikki was entering labor. Assistant coach Dan Craig filled in and Spoelstra is expected to return for Miami’s home game against Cleveland on Tuesday.
KNICKS 101, WIZARDS 97 >> Trey Burke scored 19 points to lead eight players in double figures for New York.
Bradley Beal scored 14 points, but shot just 5 of 17 for Washington, which led only once after the early stages of the second quarter and lost for the eighth time in the last 12 games. TRAIL BLAZERS 108, THUNDER 105 >> C.J. McCollum scored 34 points to help Portland slip past Oklahoma City and sweep the four-game season series with the Thunder.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Steven Adams had 18 points and 10 rebounds.