LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Matt Barnes tied his season high with 21 points off the bench, Chris Paul had 11 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Boston 106-77 on Thursday night, becoming the first team to win 15 consecutive games since the Celtics four years ago.
Fellow reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points, Blake Griffin had 15 and Caron Butler 14 to help the Clippers improve the NBA’s best record to 23-6.
Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for Boston, which never led in dropping to .500 at 14-14 with its fifth loss in seven games. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green added 12 points each to go with 10 apiece from Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo.
Boston’s winning streak extended to 19 games in 2008-09.
Thunder top Mavs in OT
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ― Kevin Durant scored 40 points while Russell Westbrook added eight of his 16 points in overtime to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat Dallas 111-105 on Thursday night for their 11th straight win at home.
Serge Ibaka added 19 points and matched his season-high with 17 rebounds as Oklahoma City charged back from 10 points down in the final 7:17 of regulation and found a way to win after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Nets fire Johnson NEW YORK (AP) ― Coach of the month in November, out of a job by New Year’s.
The Brooklyn Nets have elevated expectations this season, and a .500 record wasn’t good enough. Coach Avery Johnson was fired Thursday, his team having lost 10 of 13 games after a strong start to its first season in Brooklyn.
“We don’t have the same fire now than we did when we were 11-4,” general manager Billy King said.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
