Clippers beat Wizards in wild finish with clock goof
LOS ANGELES — The way things have been going for the struggling Clippers, it figures a wild finish involving an arcane clock rule would be the way they’d finally win again.
Lou Williams hit a goahead pull-up 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining, lifting Los Angeles to a 113-112 victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday to end a fourgame skid.
“Nothing has been easy,” coach Doc Rivers said.
With Bradley Beal guarding him, Williams unleashed the winner from the top of the key, capping a wild final 12 seconds in which both teams traded leads on clutch plays.
“I made a move and Bradley bit on it,” Williams said. “I was able to pull up with one dribble. If I go left, I like my chances.”
After Williams’ basket, the Wizards called a timeout.
They inbounded the ball on the sideline with 1.2 seconds left and Beal hit the potential winning baseline jumper, which was waived off because the game clock started a couple tenths of a second too soon.
After a video review, the referees decided to give Washington possession for a replay, except the Wizards inbounded in the left corner with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Marcin Gortat’s jumper bounced off the rim as time expired.
Crew chief Bill Spooner told a pool reporter after the game that the referees incorrectly reset the shot clock to 1.1 seconds instead of 0.1. Spooner said the location of the inbounds changed to the point of interruption where Beal caught the ball.
“We had a clock malfunction, early start,” Spooner said in a statement. “The time that they lost was 1.1. With an inbounds at 1.2 that leaves, mathematically, 0.1 and that should have been where we reset it. We actually made the mistake in their favor if you will, and reset it at 1.1.”
Wizards coach Scott Brooks wasn’t upset about the mistake.
“I never complain about tough decisions and tough plays at the end of the game that referees have to make,” he said.
Beal called it “a freak rule” and said it didn’t make sense because the Wizards had his basket taken away.
“We had a great play, now that you take that away that gives the defense a chance to set up now to change some things,” he said. “Now we’ve got to go back and try to change into a different play with the ball in the corner. He said we get the same amount of time, but we didn’t get the same amount of time. Then the ball was placed in the corner. So I don’t really understand it.”
HEAT 101, NETS 89: Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson each scored 20 points and Miami beat the Brooklyn Nets in the Heat’s first game in Mexico in franchise history. Playing in front of 19,777 fans at raucous Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Dragic was 9 of 19 from the field and had seven rebounds for Miami. The Heat snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 12-13. James Johnson added 17 points, Justice Winslow had 15 and Kelly Olynyk 11 for Miami. The Heat rallied from two sevenpoint deficits. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Nets with 18 points. Coming off a 100-95 victory over Oklahoma City on Thursday night in the Mexico City opener, the Nets dropped to 10-15. In the third quarter, the Nets took a seven-point lead on Tyler Zeller’s layup, but Dragic sealed a 10-2 run to give Miami a 60-59 lead and the Heat took a 75-72 advantage into the final period. Miami put it away with an 11-4 run to start the fourth quarter. They took an 86-76 lead with 8:18 to play on Wayne Hellington’s dunk.
LAKERS 110, HORNETS 99: Jordan Clarkson scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away late to defeat the fatigued and shorthanded Charlotte Hornets. Brandon Ingram added 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 for the Lakers, who have won two straight after losing five in a row. Clarkson got so hot that he played the entire fourth quarter while Lonzo Ball sat out. Ball finished with five points and nine assists after turning in perhaps his most complete game Wednesday night against Philadelphia, when he had 10 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and four blocks in a 107104 win. Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Dwight Howard had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the injury-riddled Hornets, who have lost seven of eight.