Clippers’ Patrick Beverley fined $25K for throwing basketball at fan

NEW YORK — Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing a basketball at a fan during a game in Dallas.

The fine was handed down Tuesday by league discipline executive Kiki VanDeWeghe.


The incident occurred with 9:10 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 114-110 loss to the Mavericks on Sunday.

Beverley and Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. wrestled on the floor for a loose ball, their second loose-ball scramble of the game. After Beverley got up holding the ball, he threw a bounce pass to a Mavericks’ fan sitting courtside, which the fan caught. That drew a technical foul and an ejection.

He said after the game that the fan uttered an expletive about his mother.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Harris, Gallinari help Clippers edge Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. — Tobias Harris had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 104-100 on Sunday night.

Danilo Gallinari made the tiebreaking jumper with 47 seconds left and added 17 points for the Clippers.


Damian Lillard scored 30 points for Portland, which led by 13 at halftime but then had to play the second half without starting center Jusuf Nurkic because of a bruised shoulder.

With Portland missing its defensive anchor, the Clippers began the half on a 20-4 run. The Clippers kept the momentum going, outscoring the Blazers 38-16 in the third quarter.

With the game slipping away, Blazers coach Terry Stotts left Lillard in the game to start the fourth quarter, and the star guard’s personal 7-0 run in a span of 12 seconds tied it at 100 with 1:53 left.

But Gallinari made a short pull-up jumper, Portland missed a couple jumpers on the next possession and Patrick Beverley clinched it with a pair of free throws.

The loss ruined Maurice Harkless’ first start of the season. He had returned Wednesday from a knee injury that kept him out since Oct. 29.

TIP-INS

Clippers: Los Angeles improved to 13-6, the best record in the Western Conference. The Clippers have done it with a roster absent of household names, but depth is the reason they are where they are.

“You have seven or eight guys that can start and they do,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “We move it around. But as long as your group is good with that and the changes and we have good group.”

Trail Blazers: After a strong start to the season, the Blazers sputtered in the last two games of their road trip, losing by a combined 71 points. The defense, which was at one point in the top five in the league, has fallen to 16th in defensive efficiency.


“We’ve had three relatively poor defensive games, two of them against very good offensive teams,” coach Terry Stotts said before the game. “I am concerned. It’s not a trend I want to continue. Milwaukee was a train wreck.”

UP NEXT

Clippers: Host Phoenix on Wednesday.

Trail Blazers: Host Orlando on Wednesday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Clippers rally to beat Bucks, improve playoff hopes

LOS ANGELES — Tobias Harris scored 19 points, DeAndre Jordan had a double-double and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied after blowing a 16-point lead to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-98 on Tuesday night and boost their playoff hopes.

The Clippers hit six 3-pointers in the fourth, when they were down by five and launched a 13-0 run to go back in front 96-88.

They made 3-pointers on four straight possessions — by four different players — for a 105-96 lead.

Jordan had 12 points and 16 rebounds, and Lou Williams added 16 points off the bench.

Los Angeles trails Minnesota by 1 ½ games for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.

Milos Teodosic got their 3-point run going in the first quarter, when he made four of the Clippers’ seven 3-pointers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points and Khris Middleton added 22 for the Bucks, who opened a four-game Western Conference swing by having their two-game winning streak snapped.

The Clippers came out strongly to start the second quarter, extending their lead to 16 on a dunk by Williams.

But Middleton and the Bucks chipped away, outscoring the Clippers 26-15 in the third. Antetokounmpo had 10 points to help send Milwaukee into the fourth leading 82-78.

The Bucks ended the third on a 9-0 run, including back-to-back baskets by Tyler Zeller that gave them their first lead since the initial basket of the game.

TIP-IN

Bucks: Backup C Thon Maker sat out with a right groin strain. … Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers attended.

Clippers: They have won five of seven against the Bucks, including a 127-120 win last week. … F Danilo Gallinari (right hand contusion, non-displaced fracture) could return Friday at Portland or Sunday against Indiana. He’s missed 17 games with the latest in a string of injuries this season.

UP NEXT

Bucks: Visit Golden State on Thursday. They lost to the Warriors 108-94 at home on Jan. 12.

Clippers: Visit Phoenix on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back, their last one of the season. They are 3-7 on the road in the second game.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Kings halt Clippers' 10-game win streak

LOS ANGELES — DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Sacramento Kings ended the Los Angeles Clippers' 10-game winning streak with a 110-103 victory on Saturday night at Staples Center.

"To come in their house and get a win like this is good for us," said Cousins, who had 15 points in the first half.

Rudy Gay had 18 points and seven rebounds while Omri Casspi and Darren Collison came off the bench to add 17 points apiece for the Kings (17-23), who snapped a five-game skid against Los Angeles.

Ben McLemore and Rajon Rondo had 15 and 13 points, respectively. Rondo also had 10 assists and seven rebounds.

The Clippers, who were again without center DeAndre Jordan (pneumonia) and forward Blake Griffin (partially torn left quad tendon), hadn't lost since falling 100-99 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 21.

"We felt we had an advantage going into the game, especially with their bigs out, so we wanted to take advantage of it and get the ball into the paint," Rondo said.

"(Cousins) was able to find guys on the perimeter. He did a great job of passing the ball. We passed the ball great as a team, and we got the win."

J.J. Redick scored 22 points, hitting five three-pointers, to lead the Clippers (26-14). Center Cole Aldrich finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and guard Jamal Crawford had 20 points.

Chris Paul, who was in foul trouble throughout the night, chipped in 15 points and seven assists.

"We don't want to take anything away from them, they played great," said Paul, who managed just four-of-11 shooting from the floor but hit three of five three-pointers in 27 minutes.

"They made shots, they moved the ball well. We knew coming in to this game that they were a high-scoring team and we never slowed them down."

The Kings used a 13-0 surge to rally from a six-point deficit for a 54-47 advantage after a three-point play by Collison with 3:13 left in the second quarter. Sacramento led 64-60 at the break.

"It's a quality win for us," Rondo said. "It's a roller-coaster season for us, but for us to put two games together in a row, get some rest the next couple of days and hopefully do the same thing (Wednesday) against the Lakers." — Reuters

Sterling wants ban, fine lifted - report

Donald Sterling expects the NBA to withdraw his $2.5 million fine and lifetime ban before he signs off on the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday (Saturday, PHL time) that Sterling thought he was absolved from the penalties imposed by the league after he saw the draft of a league statement. It's uncertain whether a formal appeal was filed with the NBA on his behalf or whether the league would consider rescinding the ban and fine.

The league issued the sanctions on April 29 after Sterling's racially charged statements recorded by a girlfriend were made public and set off a firestorm. That set in motion a process leading to Sterlings agreeing to sell the franchise they have owned for nearly 35 years.

His wife, Shelly Sterling, recently agreed to the sale of the Clippers on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a record $2 billion.

Ballmer still needs approval from the league's 30 team governors to take over the Clippers.

Sterling apparently changed his position from last week when his attorney, Bobby Samini, said the issues with the league were resolved and the sale would go forward. - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Warriors hum on offense and defense, rout Clippers

OAKLAND - The Golden State Warriors used a 12-2 burst early in the second quarter to build a 19-point lead, then blew the game open by holding the Los Angeles Clippers to a franchise-worst one field goal in the third period en route to a 111-92 thrashing of the Pacific Division leaders Thursday night (Friday, PHL time).

In beating the Clippers for the second time this season, Golden State (28-19) put a happy ending on a five-game homestand that had already featured losses to Indiana, Minnesota and Washington.

Power forward David Lee and All-Star point guard Stephen Curry led six Warriors in double figures with 22 points apiece as the Warriors got 29 points from the league's least productive bench in easily disposing of a tired Clippers squad.

Shooting guard Klay Thompson (16), center Andrew Bogut (14), backup big man Marreese Speights (12) and reserve forward Harrison Barnes (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who flew to Utah after the game for a Friday night (Saturday, PHL time) matchup with the Jazz.

Bogut (17 rebounds) and Lee (11) both recorded double-doubles for Golden State.

The Clippers (33-16) won four in a row, but did so over a six-day stretch leading into Thursday's (Friday, PHL time) contest.

They had one big run in them in their fifth game in seven nights, cutting a 54-35 deficit to six at 62-56 shortly before halftime. Shooting guard JJ Redick had a pair of three-pointers in the comeback.

But the Clippers, down by eight at the half, came back from the break as flat as they were to start the game, watching Golden State run off to a 90-67 lead from which L.A. could not recover as it missed 14 of its 15 shots in the third period.

Redick had the Clippers' only basket of the quarter, a three-pointer that came 6:23 into the period. Getting six points from Lee, the Warriors had turned a 64-56 halftime advantage into an 80-58 blowout by that point.

All-Star power forward Blake Griffin had 27 points for the Clippers, who were coming off a 110-103 home win over Washington on Wednesday night (Thursday, PHL time). Griffin had 20 of his points in the first half.

Point guard Darren Collison added 22 points and Redick 12 on four three-pointers in the losing effort. Center DeAndre Jordan grabbed 20 rebounds to complement nine points.

The game featured none of the extracurriculars that marred Golden State's 105-103 home win over the Clippers on Christmas night. That contest had two ejections, two flagrant fouls and three technical fouls.

The Warriors never trailed in the game, jumping out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter behind a combined 16 points and 10 rebounds from frontcourt partners Lee and Bogut.

Golden State's reserves, led by Barnes, Speights and guard Jordan Crawford, contributed 18 second-quarter points as the Warriors built as much as a 19-point lead.

L.A. got as close as six before halftime, but never closer than eight in the second half. - Reuters


The scores:
Warriors 111 - Curry 22, Lee 22, Thompson 16, Bogut 14, Speights 12, Barnes 10, Iguodala 8, Crawford 5, Green 2, Bazemore 0, Brooks 0

Clippers 92 - Griffin 27, Collison 22, Redick 12, Jordan 9, Crawford 9, Dudley 4, Mullens 3, Green 2, Turkoglu 2, Hollins 2, Bullock 0

Los Angeles    21-35-11-25
Golden State    32-32-26-21

source: gmanetwork.com