Warriors clip Clippers

(The Sports Xchange) – Point guard Goran Dragic scored 28 points and made seven assists to lead the high-flying Phoenix Suns to a 102-94 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Phoenix (28-18) swept a four-game road trip against the Eastern Conference and beat the league-leading Pacers for the second time in eight days.

Indiana (35-10) fell behind by 19 points in the first half, missed 14 of 15 three-point shots and committed 15 turnovers as their 10-game winning streak at home was snapped.

Pacers’ guard Lance Stephenson scored 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, giving him an NBA-best four triple-doubles.

Center Roy Hibbert scored 26 points and pulled down six rebounds as all five Indiana starters scored in double figures.

Former Indiana guard Gerald Green scored 16 points for the Suns, who received boosts off the bench from twin brothers Marcus (16 points) and Markieff Morris (15).

 

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Warriors 111, Clippers 92

The Golden State Warriors used a 12-2 burst early in the second quarter to open 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.

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.

Bogut (17 rebounds) and Lee (11) both recorded double-doubles for Golden State. The Clippers’ (33-16) All-Star power forward Blake Griffin had 27 points.

 

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Knicks 117, Cavaliers 86

Carmelo Anthony poured in 29 points and became the 50th player in NBA history to accumulate 19,000 career points, leading the New York Knicks to a 117-86 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Knicks forward accomplished the feat in the first quarter with his 15th point. Anthony averaged 28.7 points in January as the Knicks posted their best month of the season at 10-6.

New York (19-27) earned its second consecutive one-sided and wire-to-wire win.

The Cavaliers (16-30) lost their third straight game and seventh of their past 10. They were led by guard Kyrie Irving, who scored 24 points.