CLIPPERS 119, SPURS 115
LOS ANGELES (AP) — DeAndre Jordan had 26 points and 18 rebounds, Jamal Crawford added 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat San Antonio 119-115 Thursday night, increasing their lead over the Spurs by 1 1/2 games in the West.
Chris Paul had 22 points and 16 assists, and the Clippers outscored the Spurs 56-46 in the paint despite the absence of Blake Griffin, who is recovering from right elbow surgery.
Crawford and Paul came up with huge baskets in the final 32 seconds, with the Clippers clinging to one-point leads both times. Crawford took a pass from Paul and made a 3-pointer from the right corner.
Marco Belinelli answered with a 3 that drew the Spurs to 115-114.
Paul hit a 16-footer with 8 seconds to go that kept the Clippers ahead by three. J.J. Redick made a pair of free throws to close out the win.
THUNDER 104, MAVERICKS 89
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 34 points and 10 assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Dallas Mavericks 104-89 on Thursday night.
Serge Ibaka had 21 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and reserve guard Anthony Morrow added 16 points for the Thunder, who won for the sixth time in seven games. They moved into a tie with Phoenix for eighth place in the Western Conference.
The Thunder rolled, despite getting just 12 points from Kevin Durant.
Dirk Nowitzki had 14 points and Tyson Chandler added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who shot a season-low 36.3 percent from the field. Dallas point guard Rajon Rondo returned after missing six games with broken bones in his face. He finished with five points and six assists in 30 minutes.
Morrow’s long 2-pointer from the left corner as time expired in the first half gave the Thunder a 52-36 lead. He scored 14 points in the first half and made 6 of 11 shots.
Oklahoma City held Dallas to 29 percent shooting before the break and forced 13 turnovers. Dallas barely avoided its lowest-scoring half of the season.
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