NBA Wrap: Clippers edge Suns, 121-120 in OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin scored a season-high 45 points, drilling the winning 3-pointer that hit the rim and dropped in at the buzzer, to help Los Angeles beat Phoenix Suns in overtime for their eighth straight victory.
Griffin made 15 of 17 free throws, and finished two points off his career high. Chris Paul had 20 points and 10 assists, J.J. Redick added 17 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 14 rebounds in a game featuring rat-a-tat offense.
Eric Bledsoe had a triple-double of 27 points, a career-high 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the Suns. Markieff Morris scored 21 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime that rallied the Suns from a two-point deficit to a four-point lead.
Goran Dragic added 17 points for the Suns, who had six players in double figures. Bledsoe tied his career high in rebounds against his former team.
CAVALIERS 110, NETS 88
NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned a close game into a clinic after Britain's Prince William and his wife, Kate, grabbed courtside seats to watch them, beating the Brooklyn Nets 110-88 on Monday.
Kevin Love was shooting free throws when the royal couple emerged from into the stands with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter. Perhaps distracted by the loud roar, Love missed the second, leaving the game tied at 61.
But James, putting on a show that few others could, threw some sharp passes to go with his nine points in the period and the Cavs cruised from there to their seventh straight victory.
He finished with 18 points after joining Kyrie Irving and some Nets players in wearing "I Can't Breathe" shirts during warmups.
WARRIORS 102, TIMBERWOLVES 86
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Stephen Curry overcame a rare off night from long range to post 21 points and seven assists and help Golden State to their 13th consecutive win with a victory over Minnesota.
Curry missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but the top-ranked Warriors' defense forced the short-handed Timberwolves to shoot 36 percent and turn the ball over 19 times to improve to an NBA-best 18-2. Klay Thompson added 21 points and the Warriors left holding their breath after Andrew Bogut left with a knee injury early in the first quarter.
The Warriors called it "right knee irritation" and deemed his return to the game questionable, but he watched the rest from the bench.
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are playing without three starters and have lost six in a row. Thaddeus Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota.
HAWKS 108, PACERS 92
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) —Al Horford scored 25 points and Jeff Teague added 21 as Atlanta beat Indiana.
Kyle Korver added 13 points for Atlanta, which has won eight of its last nine games and seven straight.
The Hawks dominated early and never let up as they built a 28-18 first quarter lead. In building that lead Atlanta (14-6) shot 5 of 9 beyond the arc.
The lead went to 21 when Teague made a layup and free throw after with 8:25 to play in the third quarter.
C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey each scored 15 points to lead Indiana (7-14). Luis Scola came off the bench to score 12.
The Pacers only lead, 8-7, came at 7:31 of the first quarter.
RAPTORS 112, NUGGETS 107 OT
TORONTO (AP) — Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 13 assists, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds as Toronto rallied to beat Denver in overtime.
Lou Williams scored 26 and Amir Johnson had 18 for the Raptors, who trailed by five points with less than three minutes to play but got a game-tying 3-pointer from Patrick Patterson with 28 seconds left.
Patterson finished 5 for 7 from 3-point range, while his teammates were a combined 4 for 26.
Patterson had 19 points and Terrence Ross 16 for Toronto, which leads the Eastern Conference with a 16-5 record.
WIZARDS 133, CELTICS 132 2OT
WASHINGTON (AP) — John Wall scored 26 points, including the last 10, as the Washington rallied to beat Boston in double overtime.
Wall added a career-high 17 assists, Paul Pierce scored a season-high 28 points and Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, which outlasted the Celtics to salvage the finale of the home-and-home series after losing Sunday in Boston.
Washington squandered a 23-point third-quarter lead before rallying in both overtimes.
Jeff Green led Boston with 28 points, rookie Marcus Smart added a career-high 23 and Kelly Olynyk finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
SACRAMENTO 101, JAZZ 92
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Rudy Gay scored 29 points as Sacramento overcame the absence of center DeMarcus Cousins to beat Utah.
Darren Collison added 16 points and six assists, and rookie Nik Stauskas scored a season-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds as Sacramento pulled away in the fourth quarter for a rare win without its leading man.
Cousins sat out for the sixth straight game because of viral meningitis, which will sideline him at least the rest of the week. The Kings are 2-4 without Cousins this season and had lost 17 of their previous 18 games when he doesn't play.
Gordon Hayward had 19 points and seven assists, and Alec Burks returned from a left shoulder injury to score 16 points for the Jazz, who have lost nine in a row.
Sacramento outshot Utah 47.3 to 40.5 percent.
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