Devin Booker showed he is clutch as he nailed the winning basket in the Phoenix Suns’ 117-115 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday.
With the score tied, Booker had the ball with six seconds left and drove to the basket and attempted a turnaround shot over the outstretched arms of Paul George which hit nothing but net as time expired.
Booker’s teammates mobbed him on the court.
He scored 35 points and more importantly, led the Suns to their third straight victory which boosted their chances for a playoff spot.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 27 points while George added 23.
Ricky Rubio and DeAndre Ayton ably backed Booker with 18 and 19 points, respectively.
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Clippers’ Lou Williams played for the first time in the bubble after in quarantine for more than a week for visiting a strip club in Atlanta.
He was earlier allowed to leave the bubble to attend the funeral of a relative.
Williams scored seven points and had six rebounds and six assists in 21 minutes in a losing effort.
He regretted his action and said he could have made a better decision.
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Still out for the Clippers is Montrezl Harrell due to a personal matter. His return is still unknown.
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Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to a 114-110 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings Tuesday.
Doncic had a historic triple-double –34 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists — to become the youngest player at 21 years, 158 days to end a game with 30 or more points, 20 plus rebounds, and 10 or more assists.
He shattered the record of NBA great Oscar Robertson who had the record at 23 years and 12 days.
Doncic had to basically carry the team in extra canto as Kristaps Porzingis fouled out late in regulation. Porzingis ended up with 22 points and seven caroms.
The Kings topbilled by De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield with 28 and 21 points respectively led most of regulation but could not close out the game, which was Dallas’ first victory in the bubble.
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The hot play of Indiana Pacers’ TJ Warren continues.
Warren scored 32 points to lead the Pacers to a 120-109 victory over the Orlando Magic Tuesday.
Warren has scored 119 points for a 39.7 -point per game average in three games –which the Pacers all won – at the bubble, including 53 points in their debut.
Myles Turner backed up Warren with 21 points. Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 10 rebouns while Aaron Gordon scored 20 for the Magic which trailed from start to finish.
Orlando coach Steve Clifford was disappointed with the result and said they played a mindless game.
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In other games, the Brooklyn Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 119-116, with Giannis Antetokounmpo sitting out the second half. The loss prevented the Bucks from clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Miami Heat bucked the absence of Jimmy Butler to eke out a 111-106 win over the the Boston Celtics.
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Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies injured his left knee in their game against the New Orleans Pelicans Monday.
He is out for the season but is expected to fully recover for the next. A medical update from the Grizzlies said Jackson experienced an unstable landing after making contact with an opposing player
while contesting a shot.
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It was reported that NBA legend Larry Bird quit as Indiana Pacers president because the team didn’t spend enough.
Bird quit the team in 2017 due to a desire to do other things outside basketball.
Paul George left for the same reason –the team not spending enough.
(Compiled by Tristan Lozano)
