LOS ANGELES: Jamal Crawford led a dominant performance by the Los Angeles reserves with 22 points, and the Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 112-100 on Tuesday night, extending their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games.
Matt Barnes added 20 points — one off his season high — as the bench outscored the Clippers starters 64-48 in claiming the NBA’s best record at 22-6, one win better than Oklahoma City which lost to Miami earlier Tuesday.
Kosta Koufos and Jordan Hamilton scored 16 points each for Denver in the finale of a Christmas Day doubleheader at Staples Center. The Lakers, who will play the Nuggets on Wednesday night in Denver, beat the Knicks 100-94 in the first game.
Ty Lawson added 15 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 7-13 on the road, where 22 of their first 32 games are being played.
Crawford’s 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter pushed the Clippers’ lead to 20 points and kept the starters on the bench for the final 12 minutes. Crawford scored eight points in the quarter.
Chris Paul led Los Angeles starters with 14 points; Blake Griffin had 13; and Willie Green 11.
Heat 103, Thunder 97: At Miami, LeBron James finished with 29 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 21, and Miami survived a frantic finish to beat Oklahoma City in an NBA Finals rematch.
Mario Chalmers scored a season-high 20 for the Heat, who matched the franchise’s best 25-game start at 19-6. Chris Bosh added 16 for Miami, which has beaten the Thunder five straight times going back to last June’s title series.
Kevin Durant scored 33 points and Russell Westbrook added 21 for Oklahoma City, but both Thunder stars missed potentially game-tying 3-point attempts in the final seconds. Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin each added 15 for the Thunder, who have dropped two straight for the first time this season.
The Heat went 19 for 19 from the foul line, the second-best effort in franchise history.
Lakers 100, Knicks 94: At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant engineered a second-half comeback, helping Los Angeles beat New York and extend its winning streak to five.
Bryant scored 34 points in his NBA-record 15th Christmas Day game, and Metta World Peace added 20 points and seven rebounds while defending Carmelo Anthony, whose 34 points led the Knicks. Bryant, the league’s leading scorer, has topped 30 in nine straight games.
The Lakers improved to 14-14 — 9-9 under new coach Mike D’Antoni — and upped their holiday record to 21-18, including 13-9 at home.
The Knicks controlled most of the game behind Anthony and J.R. Smith, who had 24 points. But they struggled offensively in the fourth, when Anthony was limited to seven points, and Smith had five.
Smith’s 3-pointer pulled New York to 96-94. After Pau Gasol made one of two free throws, Smith missed another 3 that would have tied the game with 32 seconds left.
Steve Nash had 16 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in his second game in nearly two months. He missed 24 games while recovering from a small fracture in his lower left leg. Dwight Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Gasol had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Celtics 93, Nets 76: At New York, Rajon Rondo scored 19 points in his first full game against Brooklyn this season, and Boston beat the Nets in another game with heated moments between the division rivals.
Rondo, sidelined in the first meeting and thrown out of the second after shoving Nets forward Kris Humphries into the courtside seats, outplayed counterpart Deron Williams and helped the Celtics take control early.
Rookie Jared Sullinger tied a career high with 16 points, and Jeff Green had 15 for the Celtics (14-13), who avoided falling under .500 with their second victory in six games.
Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez each scored 15 for the Nets, who have lost four of five.
The Celtics took control with a 23-5 run in the second quarter. They had 11 assists on 13 baskets and outscored the Nets 34-18 in the period.
A month after the teams scuffled in Boston, there was another skirmish in the fourth quarter that resulted in four technical fouls.
Williams had only 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, and Joe Johnson, his partner in a high-priced backcourt, shot 4 of 14 for his 12 points.
Boston’s Kevin Garnett had eight points and 10 rebounds on the day he tied Charles Oakley for 15th place on the NBA’s career list with his 1,282nd game.
Rockets 120, Bulls 97: At Chicago, James Harden scored 26 points and Jeremy Lin added 20 points and 11 assists to lead Houston over Chicago. Omer Asik had 20 points and 18 rebounds in his first trip back to Chicago since signing with the Rockets in the offseason.
Every Rockets starter scored in double figures. Chandler Parsons added 23 points and Marcus Morris had 10 for Houston, which has won six of seven.
The Rockets had been 3-7 on the road, but a strong second quarter turned the holiday matchup into a blowout. The Rockets outscored the Bulls 31-19 in the period to break the game open.
Lin capped a 14-2 run midway through the quarter with a drive and a layup to make it 55-34. He scored 12 in the second quarter and Harden had 13.
Houston led 58-41 at halftime.
Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 27 points, and Marco Belinelli scored 15. The points allowed and margin of defeat were season-worsts for Chicago.
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League-best Clippers stretch win streak to 14
League-best Clippers stretch win streak to 14
Hosts Morocco face Mane’s Senegal for AFCON glory
- Final kicks off at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco
- Senegal are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph
RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations reaches its climax on Sunday with a showdown between host nation Morocco, looking to win the title for the first time in 50 years, and Sadio Mane’s powerful Senegal side.
The final kicks off at 1900 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco, captained by African player of the year Achraf Hakimi.
The first AFCON ever to start in one year and end in another could be the second in a row to be won by the host nation, with the Atlas Lions aiming to follow in the footsteps of Ivory Coast, crowned champions on home soil in 2024.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco have established themselves in recent years as Africa’s pre-eminent national team, becoming the first from the continent to reach a World Cup semifinal, in 2022, and climbing to 11th place in the world rankings.
However, they have long been AFCON underachievers, with their only title to date coming in 1976. This will be their first final since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia when Regragui was part of the team.
Senegal, meanwhile, are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph, when Mane scored the decisive shoot-out penalty against Egypt in Yaounde.
“We dreamt of being here and now we have done it,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
He has been under suffocating pressure to deliver the title for the football-mad nation, and would possibly not have kept his job through to the approaching World Cup in North America had he not reached the final.
“I hope this is just the beginning and not our last AFCON final,” he added.
“Big football nations want to be up there on a regular basis. Tomorrow we want to try to make history.”
He added: “Senegal will need to be really strong to beat us at home, although they are capable.”
Morocco’s success over the last four weeks has been based around the attacking threat of Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and a defense which has conceded only once.
Security concerns
Being at home brings extra pressure, but can also be a huge advantage, and Senegal have complained about the conditions in which they were welcomed to Rabat ahead of the game.
The Lions of Teranga were based in the northern port city of Tangiers until they arrived in Rabat by train on Friday.
The Senegalese Football Federation complained about a “lack of adequate security” for the team’s arrival amid a crowd of fans “which put the players and staff at risk.”
It also complained about their hotel, the fact that their supporters were given fewer than 3,000 tickets for the final, and about being asked to train at the Moroccan team’s base in nearby Sale.
“What happened was not normal,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw.
“Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger.
“That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”
Mane, a two-time winner of the African player of the year award, said after netting the winner in the semifinal against Egypt that Sunday’s game would be his last ever AFCON appearance.
But Thiaw insisted on the eve of the game that the former Liverpool forward may have to rethink that decision.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree,” said Thiaw.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible,” added the coach, who is without center-back and captain Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension.
Off the pitch this edition of Africa’s premier sports event has demonstrated that Morocco is determined to be a successful co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament has been free of the problems that have plagued earlier AFCONs, the stadiums and pitches have generally been of a high quality and high-speed rail links show a country significantly upgrading its infrastructure.
The final kicks off at 1900 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco, captained by African player of the year Achraf Hakimi.
The first AFCON ever to start in one year and end in another could be the second in a row to be won by the host nation, with the Atlas Lions aiming to follow in the footsteps of Ivory Coast, crowned champions on home soil in 2024.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco have established themselves in recent years as Africa’s pre-eminent national team, becoming the first from the continent to reach a World Cup semifinal, in 2022, and climbing to 11th place in the world rankings.
However, they have long been AFCON underachievers, with their only title to date coming in 1976. This will be their first final since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia when Regragui was part of the team.
Senegal, meanwhile, are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph, when Mane scored the decisive shoot-out penalty against Egypt in Yaounde.
“We dreamt of being here and now we have done it,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
He has been under suffocating pressure to deliver the title for the football-mad nation, and would possibly not have kept his job through to the approaching World Cup in North America had he not reached the final.
“I hope this is just the beginning and not our last AFCON final,” he added.
“Big football nations want to be up there on a regular basis. Tomorrow we want to try to make history.”
He added: “Senegal will need to be really strong to beat us at home, although they are capable.”
Morocco’s success over the last four weeks has been based around the attacking threat of Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and a defense which has conceded only once.
Security concerns
Being at home brings extra pressure, but can also be a huge advantage, and Senegal have complained about the conditions in which they were welcomed to Rabat ahead of the game.
The Lions of Teranga were based in the northern port city of Tangiers until they arrived in Rabat by train on Friday.
The Senegalese Football Federation complained about a “lack of adequate security” for the team’s arrival amid a crowd of fans “which put the players and staff at risk.”
It also complained about their hotel, the fact that their supporters were given fewer than 3,000 tickets for the final, and about being asked to train at the Moroccan team’s base in nearby Sale.
“What happened was not normal,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw.
“Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger.
“That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”
Mane, a two-time winner of the African player of the year award, said after netting the winner in the semifinal against Egypt that Sunday’s game would be his last ever AFCON appearance.
But Thiaw insisted on the eve of the game that the former Liverpool forward may have to rethink that decision.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree,” said Thiaw.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible,” added the coach, who is without center-back and captain Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension.
Off the pitch this edition of Africa’s premier sports event has demonstrated that Morocco is determined to be a successful co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament has been free of the problems that have plagued earlier AFCONs, the stadiums and pitches have generally been of a high quality and high-speed rail links show a country significantly upgrading its infrastructure.
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