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Marc Gasol leads Grizzlies past Clippers

Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol scored 18 points, Rudy Gay had 16 and the Memphis Grizzlies held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 94-85 on Monday night.

Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo added 13 each for Memphis, which won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved one-half game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Marreese Speights finished had 12 points and Zach Randolph added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies finished with a 48-36 rebounding edge, but committed 20 turnovers.

Chris Paul led Los Angeles with 21 points and six assists, while Blake Griffin had 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe and Randy Foye scored 11 points each.

The Clippers snapped a two-game winning streak and lost for just the second time in 10 games.

— Reported by the Associated Press

InsideHoops.com note: Marc Gasol shot 6-of-12 for 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.

In another battle of LA, Lakers beat Clippers

andrew bynum

Andrew Bynum scored 36 points, Kobe Bryant added 31 and the first-place Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Clippers 113-108 on Wednesday night, widening their Pacific Division lead to 21/2 games over the second-place Clippers and snapping their rival’s winning streak at six games.

By taking two out of three against their Staples Center co-tenants, the Lakers also earned the head-to-head tiebreaker in a game that could help decide the division winner and playoff seeding in the West. The division winner will likely earn the No. 3 seed behind Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Former Laker Caron Butler scored 28 points to lead six Clippers in double figures. Chris Paul added 22 points and 16 assists, Blake Griffin had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the West’s fourth-place team – the designated home team. Their winning streak was the franchise’s best in 20 years.

Ramon Sessions added 16 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who won their fourth in a row. Bynum bounced back with an offensive performance that was one point off his season high after missing one game with a sprained left ankle and running afoul of the front office with some questionable on-court behavior.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Jamario Moon named D-League Player of Month for March

Jamario Moon

Los Angeles D-Fenders forward Jamario Moon was today named NBA Development League Player of the Month for games played in March.  The honor is the first of Moon’s career and the second for a D-Fender this season, with Brandon Costner earning the award for games played in November and December.

Moon (6-8, 215, Meredian Community College), led Los Angeles to an 8-1 record in March, helping the team to clinch the top spot in the Western Conference.  During the month, he averaged 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 36.6 minutes.  He was the team’s high scorer and rebounder twice last month, scoring in double figures in eight of nine games, including an NBA D-League season-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in a 117-89 win over the Reno Bighorns on March 28.  For the month, he shot 52 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three-point range and 82 percent from the line.

Thirteen additional players earned honorable mention accolades. They include: Austin’s Eric Dawson, Bakersfield’s Renaldo Major, Canton’s Luke Harangody, on assignment from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dakota’s Stefhon Hannah, Erie’s Kyle Goldcamp, Fort Wayne’s Vernon Macklin, on assignment from the Detroit Pistons, Idaho’s Marcus Banks, Iowa’s Mike Efevberha, Maine’s Morris Almond, Springfield’s JamesOn Curry, Sioux Falls’ Trey Gilder, Texas’ Dan Gadzuric, and Tulsa’s Jerome Dyson.

Clippers get first 6-game win streak in 20 years

randy foye

Randy Foye kept knocking down shots for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks did nothing to stop him.

Foye tied a team record with a career-high eight 3-pointers while scoring 28 points for the Clippers, who have their first six-game winning streak in two decades after a 94-75 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night…

“I was just trying to be aggressive,” said Foye, who made 8 of 15 from 3-point range and 10 of 19 shots overall…

Quentin Richardson made 8 of 11 from long range while scoring 36 points for the Clippers at Boston on Feb. 4, 2004…

Caron Butler, part of the Mavericks’ championship team last season, had 13 points for the Clippers, who had lost 10 consecutive games in Dallas since 2006. Nick Young had 10 points, while Paul had eight points and 10 assists.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 19 points, while Terry had 15.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Paul Pierce, Chris Paul named Players of Week

The Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 26, through Sunday, April 1.

Pierce led the Celtics to a 4-0 week, averaging 25.0 points (nearly six above his season average), 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He scored a season-high 36 points, to go with 10 rebounds in a 102-95 victory over Charlotte on March 26. He capped off the week with a team-high 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 91-72 triumph over the Miami Heat on April 1, the Celtics’ fifth win in a row.

Paul guided the Clippers to a 4-0 mark, averaging 21.5 points on 56 percent shooting, while dishing out 11.3 assists per contest. He began the week with 25 points and 10 assists, as the Clippers defeated Paul’s former team, the New Orleans Hornets, 97-85 on March 26. Paul, who ranks third in the NBA in assists (8.8 apg), matched his season high with 15 assists in a 103-86 win over the Phoenix Suns on March 28.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince, the L.A. Clippers’ Blake Griffin, New Jersey’s Deron Williams, New York’s Carmelo Anthony and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook.

Hornets guard Eric Gordon may play soon

Eric Gordon

Barring any unforeseen setbacks or missteps, Hornets shooting guard Eric Gordon — the team’s leading scorer despite playing two games this season — could be back on the court in a matter of days.

Gordon was expected to go through the team’s practice session Tuesday evening, the final step in the rehabilitation process after arthroscopic knee surgery Feb. 14 that removed some cartilage and other debris from his right knee, an injury that arguably wrecked the Hornets’ season and cast Gordon’s future with the team in doubt.

In recent weeks, Gordon has ramped up the intensity of his workouts, he said, building to the point where he’s ready for the final post-operative exam: a full-contact practice to determine if the knee is strong enough to play in the final month of the regular season.

— Reported by Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Group led by Magic Johnson is buying the Los Angeles Dodgers

A group led by Lakers legend Magic Johnson emerged Tuesday night as the new owners of the Dodgers, ending months of uncertainty for the storied but troubled baseball franchise.

Johnson, who guided the Lakers to five NBA championships during the “Showtime” era of the 1980s, is a partner in the group along with longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten and movie executive Peter Guber. The controlling owner would be Mark Walter, chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago-based financial services company.

Walter and McCourt met privately in New York on Tuesday, coming to an agreement only hours after Major League Baseball owners approved three final bidders.

The winning group paid $2 billion for the team — a record for a sports franchise — according to an announcement issued jointly with previous owner Frank McCourt.

“I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise,” Johnson said in the statement, adding the new owners “intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section.”

— Reported by Bill Shaikin and David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times

Clippers guard Mo Williams out at least 2 weeks

maurice williams

Clippers guard Mo Williams will be sidelined at least two weeks and potentially longer with an injured left big toe he suffered against the New Orleans Hornets last Thursday.

Williams was evaluated by a specialist over the weekend and was ruled out for the next two weeks, it was announced Monday before the Clippers played the Hornets.

“It’s going to be at least a couple of weeks and then we’ll re-evaluate him then,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.

— Reported by Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles

Monty Williams apologizes for Jason Smith foul on Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin
blake griffin
Prefers to not be hacked

New Orleans Hornets coach Monty Williams said before Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers that he sent Clippers forward Blake Griffin an apologetic text after Jason Smith leveled him to the ground in last week’s game between the two teams.

Williams, in his second season as the Hornets’ coach, texted Griffin on Friday, waiting until the day after Smith hit him to earn a two-game suspension for the buzz to die down, he said. Smith sat out Monday’s game — which the Clippers won 97-85 — to complete the suspension.

“I’ll say this, because I’m here in this city: What Jason did was wrong,” Williams said Monday. “I told him that it was and that he went about it the wrong way, and that’s why I reached out to Blake to let him know that it wasn’t something we do on a regular basis.”

— Reported by Pedro Moura, special to ESPN Los Angeles