| Advertisement |
Los Angeles Clippers 108, Utah Jazz 95 LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Clippers are heading to the playoffs for the sixth season in a row. Still, they need to improve their game if they expect to make a deep run, guard Jamal Crawford says.
Advertisement
Crawford came off the bench to deliver 17 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and the Clippers rolled past the Utah Jazz 108-95 on Saturday at Staples Center.
Blake Griffin contributed 15 points and six rebounds for the Clippers (44-30), who clinched a playoff berth with the win and pulled within a half-game of the Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Chris Paul scored 14 points, J.J. Redick added 12 and Austin Rivers and Marreese Speights had 11 apiece for Los Angeles. DeAndre Jordan grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to go with seven points.
Washington Wizards 127, Cleveland Cavaliers 115
CLEVELAND -- John Wall erupted for 37 points and Washington tightened the race atop the Eastern Conference considerably with a victory over Cleveland.
The Wizards, third in the East, now trail Boston by two games and the Cavs by 2 1/2 for first place. Also, the Cavs' lead over Boston is now just a half-game.
Wall scored 18 points in the first quarter on 8-of-8 shooting. Cleveland never recovered. Bradley Beal added 27 points for the Wizards, who are now 19-7 when all five starters score in double figures.
LeBron James shook off the eye injury suffered Friday night to score 24 points, grab 11 rebounds, and dish out eight assists. James needed seven assists to pass Maurice Cheeks (7,392) for 12th place in NBA history, which he reached with his first assist in the fourth quarter. He also now has a career-high 37 double-doubles.
San Antonio Spurs 106, New York Knicks 98
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol collected double-doubles as San Antonio dispatched New York as the AT&T Center.
The Spurs won their fourth straight game but had to work harder for this one than they wanted to, especially after forging a 20-point lead in the second quarter.
New York did little in the first half and trailed by 18 points at intermission before rushing back into the game by outscoring San Antonio 31-17 in the third quarter. The Spurs hit only eight of their 27 shots in the period.
Toronto Raptors 94, Dallas Mavericks 86
DALLAS -- Toronto bolted out to a 13-2 lead and never looked back in taking out Dallas at American Airlines Center.
The Raptors clinched a playoff spot with their 44th victory of the season, which was also their fifth win in a row as they head home to begin an important string of four games at Air Canada Centre.
DeMar DeRozan, coming off consecutive 40-point games, needed only more of a mortal night to get past Dallas for the second time this month. DeRozan and forward Serge Ibaka each scored 18 points to lead the Raptors. DeRozan was 8 of 17 from the floor with six assists.
Portland Trail Blazers 112, Minnesota Timberwolves 100
PORTLAND, Ore. -- CJ McCollum bombed in 32 points as Portland downed Minnesota at Moda Center.
Damian Lillard contributed 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter for the Trail Blazers, who won for the 10th time in their last 13 outings.
Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points and Karl-Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio added 16 apiece for the Timberwolves, who lost their fifth straight game.
McCollum enjoyed his best shooting game of the season, knocking down 11 of 13 shots from the field -- including 4 of 5 3-point attempts -- and was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
