Great duels in the NBA: Thursday’s duel in Inglewood resulted in a victory for the Clippers over the Lakers, the Golden State Warriors lost again without Jimmy Butler and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets in overtime, with a triple-double Joel Embiid recovered for the cause.
The result at the Intuit Dome was 112-104, a win that brought the Clippers (20-24) full circle, a victory that began just 10 miles away at the Lakers’ home arena a month ago.
Clippers rekindle 14-3 streak
The Dec. 20 win at Crypto.com opened a winning cycle for a Clippers team that seemed to have squandered the season and had been left for dead.
Since then, his record is 14-3.
They dominated the Lakers for much of this NBA game yesterday.
Although they saw the +26 difference they had amassed in the second quarter reduced to just two points in the final minutes.
An incomplete comeback for JJ Redick’s men.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points, Ivica Zubac signed 18 points and 19 rebounds.
James Harden had another double-double with 18 points and 10 assists.
For the Lakers, Luka Doncic was the game’s top scorer with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, while LeBron James finished with 23 points.
Warriors’ journey without Butler
Without Jimmy Butler, everything is going to be tougher for the Warriors (25-21).
Tonight’s was their second loss (123-115) since the injury to Butler, who will not play again this NBA season.
Stephen Curry scored 38 points and was helped by De’Anthony Melton with 22.
But they were outplayed by a Dallas Mavericks (19-26) led by Naji Marshall with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.
Max Christie and Cooper Flagg scored 21 points each and Brandon Williams 19.
76ers in overtime
Just a month ago, Joel Embiid collapsed on the court with another apparent knee injury setting off all the alarms in Philadelphia.
It was a scare. Yesterday he signed a triple-double, his first this NBA season, with 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
The 76ers (24-19) came back from 9 points down to the Rockets (26-16) in the final quarter.
They took the game into overtime that ended 128-122.
Tyrese Maxey, the East’s fourth overall All-Star pick, scored 36 points and dished out 10 assists.
Kevin Durant contributed 36 points for the Rockets.
Jonathan Kuminga, who has asked to transfer, played just under 10 minutes and scored 10 points.
Everyone had written the Clippers off
QuéOnnda.com
Spurs fly with ‘Wemby’ and Fox
Victor Wembanyama (26 points and 13 rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (31 points) were lethal in the San Antonio Spurs’ 109-126 win in Salt Lake City.
The Spurs (31-14) remain second in the NBA West behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (37-8) and with almost the same wins as the East leader, the Detroit Pistons (32-10).
Keldon Johnson contributed 21 points, Julian Champagnie had 17 and Stephon Castle 16.
Jusuf Nurkic signed a triple-double for the Utah Jazz (15-30) with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists, Ace Bailey contributed 25 points and Keyonte George 23.
Also on Thursday, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Washington Wizards 97-107 with 35 points from Peyton Watson and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Orlando Magic 97-124.
The Chicago Bulls stormed 115-120 Minnesota and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Miami Heat 127-110.
With information from EFE
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com
