LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Clippers couldn’t hit a basket in the final four minutes of regulation. The Miami Heat could barely make free throws. Two tired teams coming off road losses the night before staggered into overtime. Then the Clippers took over. They outscored Miami 9-3 in the extra session and earned the biggest win of their young season, 95-89 Wednesday night. “It’s good to get a win and get it by grinding it out,” said Blake Griffin, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds. Their next test against one of the league’s power teams comes Saturday against the Lakers. Chris Paul had 27 points, 11 assists and one turnover in nearly 45 minutes, Caron Butler added 20 points, and Chauncey Billups had 12 for the Clippers, 9-2 against Miami at home since 2001-02. DeAndre Jordan had 11 rebounds and six blocked shots to set the tone defensively. “They didn’t surprise us,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who got ejected with 5 seconds left. “We have great respect for them. “That was great compelling playoff basketball in early January.” LeBron James had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the 200th double-double of his career, Mario Chalmers added 18 points, Dwyane Wade 17 and Chris Bosh had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who have lost their last four games against the Clippers at Staples Center. “They are a good team, they are a really good team,” Bosh said. “They are going to have some battles and adversity is going to come. We’ll see how they handle it and just keep playing.” The Heat were coming off an overtime loss to Golden State, while the Clippers had lost at Portland a night earlier. In overtime, James, Bosh and Wade missed on a combined seven shots. Miami’s Big Three struggled in the fourth quarter, as well, combining to go 3 for 8. James missed three consecutive baskets in overtime and he was 6 of 10 from the line in the final 5:49 of regulation. Chalmers hit a 3-pointer for Miami’s only points in the extra session. The Heat were 20 of 34 from the line, with James accounting for eight of their 14 misses. “I’ve been shooting the ball particularly well from the free throw line, but tonight I didn’t make enough. So I put our free throw shooting on me,” he said. “It’s kind of a rhythm when it trickles down to everybody else, so I’ve got to concentrate a little more and knock them down when I get fouled.” Wade added, “We haven’t missed this many free throws on this team, probably ever.” The Clippers’ shooting nearly let them down in the final 4 minutes of regulation when they missed on seven straight possessions, but were bailed out by Miami’s own problems. The Clippers led by two with 27 seconds left in regulation before James tied it 86 on a free throw. The Clippers called their final timeout and Paul dribbled around with James hounding him before putting up a shot that missed as time expired, forcing the Heat to the third overtime of their trip. “We defended and gave ourselves a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for,” James said. “So we can be satisfied. I mean, you don’t like to lose, but we’re not going to hang our heads about this one.” With the Clippers trailing 84-83, Billups got fouled by James on a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in regulation and made all three free throws. The Clippers finished 17 of 23 from the line. The Heat won two video reviews in the final 16 seconds of regulation, but they failed to make a field goal in the final 7:32. “A lot of times we were able to get LeBron to the rim and that’s what we wanted,” Wade said. “It’s not always going to go in, but we can leave here with our heads up high, knowing that we stuck to our game plan. We just didn’t get the win.” Neither team led by more than three points in a physical fourth quarter that featured Wade knocking Paul to the court and Norris Cole and Mo Williams colliding. “There’s a lot of guys out there that, if you look at them, they like to lift a lot of weights, so it is going to be physical,” James said. “These are two teams that have high hopes, so when that kind of clash happens, it’s going to be physical.” Notes: The Clippers went 1-1 in their first back-to-back of the shortened season. … The Heat are 5-3 in four back-to-back sets. … Paul evened his career rivalry with good friend James at six wins apiece. “We hate to lose to each other,” Paul said. … The game drew a standing room only crowd of 19,341. The Clippers have sold out all five of their home games and 17 straight dating to last season. … Celebs attending included Rihanna, Chris Rock, Billy Crystal, Sinbad, Gabrielle Union, and former Los Angeles Angels teammates Jered Weaver and John Lackey. Union is Wade’s girlfriend. Here is the original post: LeBron’s Late Blunders Open Door For Clippers
Beverly Hills News
Posts Tagged ‘ onto-southbound ’
Kobe Needs Another Big Night To Lift Lakers Past Jazz In OT
SALT LAKE CITY — Andrew Bynum wasn’t on the court the first time the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Utah Jazz. He made his presence felt Wednesday night, with five blocked shots, including a game-saver on Al Jefferson’s short jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime as the Lakers held on for a 90-87 victory. Kobe Bryant scored 40 points to lead the Lakers, including a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining for the final margin. “Andrew kind of made of his own coverage on Al and we tried to keep telling him to get out of it,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said. “But he didn’t listen to us and whatever he did, worked. So I’m going to add it to my defensive package.” Jefferson, who was coming off a season-high 30-point effort against Cleveland on Tuesday, was held to 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Paul Millsap led the Jazz with a season-high 29 points, hitting 14 of 24 shots. The loss was the first at home for the Jazz this season and halted their five-game winning streak. The Lakers embarrassed the Jazz in Utah’s season-opener, winning by 25 even without Bynum on Dec. 27. This one was close throughout, with Millsap’s tip-in tying it at 78 with 21 seconds left in regulation. Bryant, coming of a 48-point game Tuesday night at home against Phoenix, missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it in regulation for Los Angeles. Millsap then scored the first four points of overtime, but the Lakers fought back, with 3-pointers by Bryant and Pau Gasol. “Pau’s got a green light to shoot the 3,” Brown said. “As you can tell, guys trust him. Kobe made a pass to him late in the game at a crucial point. To see him step and knock it down was huge for us.” Seven-foot Bynum came up even bigger. He made just 5 of 13 shots, but his tip-in with 51 seconds left in OT put the Lakers ahead 88-87. Millsap brought the Jazz within one, then after Bryant’s miss, the Jazz found themselves with a chance to win. Gordon Hayward had the ball and started toward the lane, only to pass it to Jefferson underneath. Bynum was there. “It was just a reaction,” Bynum said about his block. “I’m lucky he went for the quick flip.” Hayward said he thought about shooting it himself. “The clock’s winding down, a final scramble and we didn’t know what was going on,” Hayward said. “There were 8 seconds left, so I got to make a play. Maybe I could have shot a 1-2 pullup, but I thought it was the right play, the right pass. We got a good look. Bynum just made a good play.” Bryant would block a long 3-point attempt by Devin Harris as the Jazz inbounded with 0.7 seconds remaining in OT. The win was the first on the road for the Lakers (8-4), while Utah (6-4) is 5-1 at home. “It felt good to get a road win here,” Bryant said. “It’s a very tough place to play and it was a huge test for us.” But even he wasn’t so sure Gasol could knock down the 22-footer from the corner. “Pau’s been shooting them well in practice and coach has been urging me to trust him at the 3-point line,” Bryant said. “I thought about passing it to him, it seemed like an eternity. But I said, `What the hell.’ “You think Tebow prays? When that ball left his hand, I must have said 30 Hail Mary’s.” Gasol finished with 14 points. He was just 5 of 14 overall, but hit his only 3-point attempt – his first of the season. “Tonight was not a very effective game on our part, for the most part,” Gasol said. “But we continued to fight through it. We forgot about everything else and we made two big plays down the stretch with the put-back and the block and I was able to make a couple plays. Hopefully we’ll get the bodies that we have injured right now and it will give us a deeper rotation.” If the Lakers were celebrating a little more than usual, they say they earned the right. “It was a tough game. It’s hard to get a win here. Back to back, getting in here late last night, going to bed late. It’s something to be proud of as a team,” Gasol said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some sleep and get ready for another back-to-back.” The Jazz also left feeling pretty good despite the loss, saying they are a different team than the one that faced the Lakers in the opener. “We kept playing hard, didn’t give up,” Jefferson said. “It’s one of those games at the end of the day we wish we could have won, but we could walk out with our head up. We played hard until the end. We just got to get ready for New Jersey.” The Jazz face the Nets on Saturday in a game that marks the return of Deron Williams for the first time since he was traded away last February. “We’re coming, we’re getting better,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “We played against a good team tonight. They were a little bit better but our effort was great.” NOTES: Lakers forward Jason Kapono missed his second game so he could be with his wife, who gave birth Tuesday to twin girls. … Josh McRoberts (sprained toe/thumb) and Troy Murphy (stomach ailment) also did not suit up for L.A. … Jazz guard Raja Bell was assessed a first-quarter technical after giving Bryant a quick shove then having a few words with him. … Both teams were a combined 1-10 from 3-point range in the first half… Lakers guard Steve Blake suffered a rib contusion in the fourth quarter. Read more: Kobe Needs Another Big Night To Lift Lakers Past Jazz In OT
Motorcyclist Not Seriously Injured in Santa Monica Blvd. Collision
A man was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries last week when he crashed his motorcycle into a car in Beverly Hills. A lone male was riding a yellow Suzuki motorcycle eastbound on North Santa Monica Boulevard at about 5 p.m. Friday when it collided with a white Mercedes-Benz. The car was turning left from westbound North Santa Monica Boulevard onto southbound North Crescent Drive when the impact occurred, according to Lt. Shan Davis of the Beverly Hills Police Department . The driver of the Mercedes was the only person in the car and reportedly did not sustain any injuries. Last week a Patch reader sent in a photo of the accident, in which pieces of a yellow motorcycle can be seen strewn across the road. If you have any photos to share with Patch readers, email them to the site editor at mariec@patch.com or tweet them to @BevHillsPatch. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Read the rest here: Motorcyclist Not Seriously Injured in Santa Monica Blvd. Collision
