Hornets sting Clippers, stay in hunt
Corey Maggette (50) of the Los Angeles Clippers shoots the ball against David West and Rasual Butler of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at the Ford Center on Tuesday. AFP |
The win moved the Hornets, currently in the 10th spot with a 37-41 record, to within a half-game of the ninth-placed Clippers (37-40) and a game of the Golden State Warriors (38-40) for the final spot in the Western Conference.
The Hornets and Warriors each have four games remaining in the regular season, while the Clippers have five.
"It was a playoff-type game," Hornets coach Byron Scott told reporters after David West hit a season-high 33 points and had three straight baskets in overtime to key the victory.
"I thought both teams played extremely hard. For us to get into overtime and get another victory out of it was great. Our guys continue to hang in there."
Elton Brand led the Clippers with 37 points and 13 rebounds.
"Bottom line is, mathematically, we can still control our destiny," Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy said. "If we win out, we win no matter what everybody else does."
Wizards in playoffs
In Washington, Richard Jefferson scored 35 points and Vince Carter had six of his 31 in the final 12 seconds to lift New Jersey to a 96-92 NBA win Tuesday over Washington, who still booked their playoff berth.
All-Star point guard Jason Kidd, held to four points to match his lowest total since March 3, made his second field goal count by tipping in Jefferson's miss with 30 seconds left to give New Jersey the lead for good 90-89.
The Wizards, who were playing without injured All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, still came away with a positive result as they locked up a National Basketball Association playoff berth when Indiana lost at Philadelphia.
Antawn Jamison again stepped up in the absence of Washington's two biggest stars with 26 points and 11 rebounds, marking his third double-double in four games.
It was a rematch of Saturday's wild 120-114 overtime victory by the Nets in which Carter and Kidd became the first teammates to post triple-doubles in the same game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Chicago Bulls in 1989.
This time it was Jefferson leading the way for New Jersey. The swingman, who missed 21 games with an ankle injury earlier in the season, finished 13-of-19 from the field.
Trailing 89-84 with 1:40 left, the Nets ran off an 8-0 spurt as Carter sandwiched baskets around hoops by Jefferson and Kidd for a 92-89 advantage with 12 seconds to play.
Carter sealed the game with four free throws in the final 5.4 seconds. While he did little on offense, Kidd had 14 rebounds and 11 assists for New Jersey.
Darius Songaila added 19 points for the Wizards, who are in the playoffs for the third straight season despite suffering their fifth straight defeat.
Durant to draft
Meanwhile, highly-rated University of Texas freshman Kevin Durant is leaving school to enter the NBA draft.
The 18-year-old was the first freshman to win all six of the major national player of the year accolades, including the Naismith and Wooden awards. He is tipped to be picked second behind only Ohio State's stellar forward Greg Oden in the June 28 draft.
"I enjoyed my year here at Texas," Durant said in a statement. "I will always be a Longhorn and never forget what the people at Texas have done for me."
Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game to lead the Big 12 Conference, and impressed scouts and fans with his athleticism and crowd-pleasing dunking ability.
Agencies-AFP
(China Daily 04/12/2007 page23)
