Clippers, Lakers get key wins on the road
Kawhi Leonard completed two 3-point plays late in the game then made a block at the rim on the final possession to lead the Clippers to a 108-107 victory over the 76ers late Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Paul George had 22 points for the Clippers and Leonard added 17. James Harden, in his return to Wells Fargo Center, had 16 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who had lost six of nine.
Kelly Oubre Jr. was stuffed at the rim by Leonard on a play that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse felt should have resulted in a foul.
Nurse stormed onto the court after the game to dispute the ending with officials and had to be restrained by his assistants.
Officials later admitted to missing the call.
Referee Kevin Scott said in a pool report sent to reporters by the NBA an hour after the game that George did make contact with Oubre Jr. — who had the ball and was driving — before time had expired on the final play of the contest.
“In real time the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically,” Scott said. “However, in post-game video review we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender George, and a foul should have been ruled.”
A foul call would have sent Oubre to the line with a chance to win the game with 0.2 seconds remaining.
■ Lebron James had a triple-double with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, Rui Hachimura scored 32 points and the Lakers built a big lead in the third quarter en route to a 136-124 victory over the Grizzlies in Memphis.
Coming off a 128-124 double-overtime victory in Milwaukee without James on Tuesday night, the Lakers won their fifth straight to pull within 2 1/2 games of idle Dallas for the sixth spot in the Western Conference, a spot that would avoid a play-in game.
Anthony Davis sat out against Memphis after having 34 points and 23 rebounds in a career-high 52 minutes against Milwaukee. He hyperextended his left knee late against the Bucks.
D’angelo Russell added 23 points and Taurean Prince had 15.
■ Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected less than four minutes into the Warriors’ game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, the forward’s fourth ejection of the season but first ejection since his 16game suspension by the NBA for his history of misconduct.
“It’s unfortunate. He deserved it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Golden State beat the Magic 101-93. “And he’ll bounce back.”
■ Lamelo Ball’s season with the Charlotte Hornets is over. The guard from Chino Hills High has not played since Jan. 27
Ball, 22, who signed a five-year max contract extension in July, has had repeated ankle injuries since coming into the league and has played in just 58 games over the last two seasons.
The Hornets (18-54) have been eliminated from postseason for the eighth straight season, the longest drought in the NBA.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL Clark invited to join USA Basketball training camp
Caitlin Clark has been invited to participate in the USA Basketball national team training camp during the Final Four in Cleveland, contingent on Iowa’s season being over.
Clark, the NCAA’S Division I alltime scoring leader, has earned three gold medals with USA Basketball junior teams, most recently as a member of the 2021 under-19 squad.
Five-time Olympic champion Diana Taurasi is one of nine former Olympians who will participate in the camp training camp from April 3-5. The others are Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. The team is expected to be named later this spring.
■ Gabe Madsen scored 18 points on six 3-pointers in Utah’s 74-54 victory over VCU on Wednesday night in a NIT quarterfinal. Utah (22-14) advances to play Indiana State on Tuesday in a semifinal.
■ Al-amir Dawes had 21 points and Seton Hall beat UNLV 91-68 to advance to the NIT semifinals.
■ Tournament MVP Cameron Tyson scored 30 points and made seven 3-pointers, Alex Schumacher scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, and third-seeded Seattle closed on an 11-0 run to beat top-seed High Point 77-67 for the CBI men’s basketball tournament title.
TENNIS Rybakina reaches second straight Miami Open final
Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina defeated No. 27 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (2) in Thursday’s semifinals of the Miami Open.
Rybakina, ranked fourth on the WTA Tour, will face No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova or unseeded Danielle Collins in Saturday’s final. She also made last year’s final before losing in straight sets to Petra Kvitová.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev reached the men’s semifinals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over unseeded Fabian Marozsan. Zverev will play today against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov.
GOLF Scheffler under par again but trails early leader at Houston
Scottie Scheffler had his 28th consecutive round under par to start the year, a 5-under 65 on Thursday that left him one shot behind Taylor Moore among the early starters in the Houston Open.
Scheffler also extended his streak to 49 holes without a bogey dating to the third round of The Players Championship two weeks ago, where he became the first back-to-back winner in the 50 years of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
The streak that matters is his bid for a third straight PGA Tour victory, a feat last accomplished seven years ago by Dustin Johnson.