Surging Kings top fatigued Clippers
LOS ANGELES — De’Aaron Fox scored 36 points, Buddy Hield added 22 and the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-110 on Sunday for their fourth straight victory.
The Kings are 7-1 since suffering a 19-point drubbing by the Clippers on Jan. 20.
“It was a real scrappy win on this back-to-back with an early start,” Kings coach Luke Walton said.
Sacramento has won seven of eight for the first time since 2006, the last time the team made the playoffs.
“We’re playing defense. That’s the biggest thing about what we’re doing right now. We knew we’re able to score with anybody. When we’ve needed stops we’ve been able to get them,” Fox said.
Lou Williams scored 23 points off the bench for the Clippers, who dropped two in a row for the first time this season. Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and 10 rebounds as they played without injured Paul George. The Clippers’ reserves outscored the starters, 57-53, and the LA bench outscored the Kings’ reserves, 57-30.
“Kawhi was a little worn out,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Guys’ legs were a little tired, they couldn’t make shots. Our starters didn’t have much.” JAZZ 103, PACERS 95:
In Indianapolis, Donovan Mitchell had 27 points and 11 assists as red-hot Utah beat Indianapolis to improve its NBA-best record.
The Jazz (19-5) has won 15 of 16.
Former Pacer Bojan Bogdanovic broke an 83-all tie with a three-point play at the 5:36 mark of the fourth quarter and the visitors never trailed again.
Bogdanovic finished with 18 points. Jordan Clarkson added 17 off the bench. Rudy
Gobert had 16 points and 16 rebounds. SUNS 100, CELTICS 91:
In Phoenix, Mikal Bridges scored 19 points, Devin Booker had 18 points and 11 assists and Phoenix held on to beat Boston.
Phoenix improved to 13-9 and has won five of six. Cam Johnson added 17 points off the bench while Deandre Ayton had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 23 points and seven assists. Walker added 14 for the Celtics, who stayed fairly close for most of the game despite a rough shooting performance. HEAT 109, KNICKS 103: In New York, Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Jimmy Butler had a big second half and just missed a triple-double and Miami beat New York in the opener of a home-and-home series.
Butler finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He shot just 3 for 11 from the field but scored 12 points after halftime.
Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro each added 16 points for the Heat, which won its second straight after dropping seven of eight. HORNETS 119, WIZARDS
97: In Charlotte, N.C., Terry Rozier had 26 points with five 3-pointers, Gordon Hayward added 25 points and Charlotte beat Washington.
LaMelo Ball followed up a career-best 34-point effort against the Utah Jazz with another strong game, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Hornets handed the Wizards their seventh loss in nine games.
Bradley Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer coming in at 33.3 points per game, led Washington with 31 points on 11-for-22 shooting. Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.