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Sports FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2020 36
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Once the
Los Angeles Clippers igured out
Miami’s zone defence, their three-
point barrage was on.
Paul George and Landry
Shamet each scored 23 points to
lead eight Clippers in double ig-
ures, and Los Angeles beat the
Heat 128‡111 yesterday for its third
consecutive victory.
“Weweremoving the ball against
the zone, getting the right shots.
We just weren’t making shots,” said
Shamet, who was one of seven in
the irst half. “It all started to come
together in the second half.”
The Clippers made a franchise-
record 24 three-pointers, their most
since hitting 20 against Houston on
January 18, 2016.
“It was a deluge, avalanche in
that second half of 3s and we just
couldn’t get a handle on it,” Heat
coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It was
one of the better three-point shoot-
ing displays I’ve been on the other
end of. Probably the biggest one.”
Jimmy Butler didn’t play in the
fourth quarter for Miami after strain-
ing his right shoulder.
“Just hope it ain’t nothing ma-
jor,” he said. “I want to be out there
again on the wood with my guys.”
Shamet’s points were a season
high and his most with the Clip-
pers. He scored 14 o™ the bench in
the fourth, pouring in 10 straight for
Los Angeles.
“For whatever reason, out of all
the irepower we have on the loor,
they allow him to take the majority
of the shots and he’s made them
pay both games,” said teammate
Lou Williams, who had 14 points.
Kawhi Leonard added 14 points,
nine assists and seven rebounds for
the Clippers, who trailed by 12 in the
irst half before taking control over
the inal two periods.
Shamet wasn’t the only Los
Angeles shooter to get hot in the
fourth. JaMychal Green hit three
three-pointers, the last one extend-
ing the lead to 107‡92.
“After the initial shock of the
zone, we held them very well. We
spaced the loor and we got great
shots,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers
said. “At halftime they said, ‘Maybe
we should drive more.’ I said, ‘You’re
wide open, shoot them.’”
Derrick Jones Jr paced six Heat
players in double igures with a
career-high 25 points and nine re-
bounds. Bam Adebayo added 22
points and 11 boards. The two of
them combined to score all but six
of Miami’s 31 points in the fourth.
Jones opened the fourth with
a huge one-handed dunk, and Ad-
ebayo followed later with a jam of
his own.
The Heat closed within six just
before Shamet scored the next 10
points for the Clippers. After that,
George added a three-pointer of
his own to go with Shamet’s long-
range barrage.
DALLAS (AP) — The Memphis Griz-
zlies are making big strides on the
court and signi icant moves o™ it.
Ja Morant scored 21 points,
Jaren Jackson Jr and Tyus Jones
added 19 apiece, and the short-
handed Grizzlies beat the Dallas
Mavericks 121‡107 yesterday to
move over .500 for the irst time
this season.
Dillon Brooks had 18 points for
Memphis, which took advantage
of Luka Doncic’s absence for Dal-
las despite playing without for-
wards Jae Crowder and Solomon
Hill. They left the team before the
game due to pending trades that
also included Andre Iguodala,
who elected not to play for the
Grizzlies after being acquired
from Golden State last o™season.
Justise Winslow is headed to
Memphis from the Miami Heat
in a deal for Iguodala, according
to reports.
Brooks said he was glad that
situation has been resolved. A
few days ago, he said he wel-
comed the chance to play
against Iguodala.
“Now we have a player that
we’re getting that actually wants
to play with us and thinks we’re
good,” Brooks said.
After their win, the Grizzlies
announced that Brooks signed
a multi-year contract extension.
reported it was for
USD35 million over three years.
The third-year swingman is av-
eraging a career-best 16.1 points,
3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in
28.4 minutes through 51 games.
He is the only Memphis player
to play and start in every game
this season.
Morant said he didn’t care that
the Iguodala drama with the Griz-
zlies has apparently ended.
“That’s in the past. It’s over
with,” he said. “We’re going to
play with the players that’s on
the loor.”
The surging Grizzlies (26‡25)
won for the 13th time in 16 games.
Looking for their irst playo™
berth since 2017, they lead Port-
land by three games for the inal
post-season spot in the
Western Conference.
“They believe in each other.
They believe in their teammates,”
irst-year Grizzlies coach Taylor
Jenkins said. “I know that’s kind
of cliché to say, whatever, but it’s
the fact.”
Kristaps Porzingis had 32
points and 12 rebounds for the
Mavericks in his third straight
30-point game. Porzingis left
brie ly with 4:06 remaining in the
third quarter with a bloody nose
after being elbowed by Josh Jack-
son while going for a rebound.
“It’s broken, but it’s okay,” Por-
zingis said. “I really didn’t have a
headache or anything.”
Porzingis exited after Memphis
broke a 71-all tie and rattled o™ 10
straight points. The Grizzlies’ run
increased to 21‡3 for a 92‡74 lead
with 1:22 left in the period, and
they led by as many as 25 in the
fourth quarter.
The Mavericks (31‡20) were
trying to reach 13 games over
.500 for the irst time this season.
“Ugly game for us,” coach Rick
Carlisle said.
The Mavericks played their
fourth straight game since Don-
cic, the second-year guard voted
an All-Star starter, sprained his
right ankle in practice last Thurs-
day. They are 2‡2 in those games
and 4‡5 this season minus Doncic,
including the December 14 game
against Miami.
TORONTO (AP) — Serge Ibaka had
missed ive of his six attempts from
three-point range, but didn’t hesi-
tate when it was time to take the
biggest shot of the game.
Ibaka hit a go-ahead three with
30 seconds remaining and the To-
ronto Raptors rallied from 19 down
to beat the Indiana Pacers 119‡118
yesterday, setting a franchise record
with their 12th consecutive victory.
“He deserved it because he’s
been working his tail o™ on his
shooting,” Raptors coach Nick
Nurse said.
Kyle Lowry had 32 points, 10
assists and eight rebounds, and
Ibaka scored a season-high 30 as
Toronto fought back after trailing
by 11 with less than four minutes
to play. The defending NBA cham-
pions scored the inal 11 points of
the game.
“We play 48 minutes,” Lowry
said. “That’s how we play. We gave
ourselves a chance, put the press
on, made some shots, got aggres-
sive and played better defense
down the stretch.”
Toronto’s closing o™ence was
pretty good, too. A trio of Raptors
scored in double igures in the
fourth, led by Ibaka’s 15 points.
Ibaka said a pep talk from Nurse
inspired him to keep iring even after
he struggled from distance early.
“Nick toldme ina timeout, ‘Serge,
keep shooting with con idence, just
push the ball,’” Ibaka said. “He gave
me a lot of con idence.”
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points,
Terence Davis had 11 and Fred Van-
Vleet added 10 to help the Raptors
earn their 12th straight home win
over Indiana.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 24
points and Justin Holiday added
a season-best 22, but the Pacers
Clippers ride big fourth
quarter to beat Heat 128-111
“When they needed to keep us at
bay they made two or three in a row,
it seemed like at every sequence, to
keep the distance,” Spoelstra said.
Miami tied the game for the last
time on a basket by Kendrick Nunn
early in the third. From there, the
Clippers outscored the Heat 26‡15,
getting six 3s in a spurt that gave
them a 92‡80 lead going into the
fourth. George scored eight straight
points as part of the run.
George had 10 of the Clippers’
season-high 35 assists in his fourth
game since missing nine with a left
hamstring strain.
The Heat opened a 12-point lead
in the second quarter, bolstered
by three three-pointers from Gabe
Vincent and eight points from But-
ler after he had just two in the irst
period. He inished with 11.
The Clippers trailed 58‡55
at halftime.
Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George shoots as Miami Heat guard
Kendrick Nunn defends. PHOTO: AP
Raptors beat Pacers for team-record
12th straight win
lost their third straight overall. Do-
mantas Sabonis had 15 points, 11
rebounds and 10 assists for his third
career triple-double.
“Poor execution the last ive
minutes of the game,” Pacers coach
Nate McMillan said.
Indiana guard Victor Oladipo
started for the irst time since re-
turning from injury last week and
scored a season-high 13 points in
25 minutes.
“I feel like I played a little better
today,” Oladipo said. “I could actu-
ally feel my legs kind of getting un-
der me, especially defensively.
“It’s a tough loss, obviously, but
there’s a lot of basketball left,” he
added. “We’ve just got to continue
to keep getting better, keep getting
stronger, and getting healthy as
well. Everything else will take care
of itself.”
Toronto was the opponent in
January 2019 when Oladipo had to
be carried o™ the court on a stretch-
er because of a ruptured tendon in
his right knee.
Oladipo played seven minutes in
the irst quarter, then checked back
in with 4:17 left in the irst half. He
started the second half and was re-
placed by Aaron Holiday with 3:24
remaining in the third period. Ola-
dipo returned for his inal stint with
5:34 left in the fourth and closed
out the game.
Holiday shot six for nine from
three-point range and Brogdon
went four of seven as the Pacers in-
ished 19 for 39 from deep, a season
high for made 3s.
Toronto’s Rondae Hollis-Je™erson
returned after missing four games
because of a sprained right ankle.
He did not score in 13 minutes.
The Raptors trailed 106‡103 af-
ter Siakam’s driving dunk with 5:05
left, but Holiday made a three, Ola-
dipo hit a jumper and Brogdon con-
nected from deep to put the Pacers
up 114‡103 with 3:50 to go.
Toronto Raptors centre Serge Ibaka celebrates after making the winning
basket against the Indiana Pacers. PHOTO: AP
Morant leads short-handed
Grizzlies past Mavericks