It was about the only play he took off all night.

James scored 30 points in another efficient performance, Dwyane Wade scored 20 and the Miami Heat dominated the middle two quarters on the way to an easy 111-89 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

James shot 9-for-11, giving him 37 makes on his past 47 attempts, and sat out the fourth quarter. It was his fourth straight 30-point game, tying him with Wade as the only Heat players with such a streak in the franchise’s 25-year history.

“He’s off the planet right now,” Wade said of James. “He’s not even the best basketball player on the planet. He’s surpassed the planet. He’s somewhere else. He’s playing phenomenal.”

It was the first time in James’ career that he scored at least 30 points on 11 or fewer field goal attempts. According to STATS LLC, it was only the 13th such game in the NBA since the start of the 2002-03 season.

“Just confident in my ability,” James said. “It was great to see, when you put in a lot of work and you implement it into a game situation. Just play your game. That’s what I’m doing right now. Just playing my game.”

When it comes to this type of roll, James isn’t interested in figuring out how it’s happening.

“Nope,” James said. “It’s nothing to figure out for me. I go out, see what the pace of the game is bringing, and you go out and figure it out on the fly. I don’t predetermine anything. If the defense backs up, I shoot. They come up on me, I drive. My teammates are open, I find my teammates. The game flows for me that way, and I’m just in that comfort place right now where I can go out and just play free.”

Mario Chalmers finished with 18 points and Shane Battier scored 12 for Miami, which improved to 21-3 at home.

The Clippers got Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin back from injuries, but that trio of starters combined for only 23 points. DeAndre Jordan led Los Angeles with 17 points.

“We lost to a good team over there, but we’re not going to hang our heads,” Paul said. “You never want to make excuses, but they shot the lights out of the ball. We never really made an impact defensively. LeBron, Mario, all those guys were on a rocking chair all night.”

Miami was without Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, both sidelined with the flu.

James made his first six shots, and his first miss came when Jordan was credited with a block on a play on which he also struck the NBA’s reigning MVP in the face, leaving him briefly shaken up.

Jordan won the ensuing tip uncontested and capped that possession with a dunk to get Los Angeles within 10 at 64-54.

Three minutes later, Miami’s lead was 24 — a 14-0 run put it away, and James took care of the first half of those points within a span of 37 seconds.

He connected on a 3-pointer while getting fouled by Jordan, then made another 3 on Miami’s next possession. Wade followed with two highlight-reel plays, a two-handed slam on a baseline drive followed by an acrobatic turnaround jumper, and Chalmers connected on a 3-pointer to put the Heat up 78-54.

“We just have to stay together,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “It’s a test right now. I thought we gave up too much space, too much respect. Obviously, Chris is trying to get back. He’s got to take control of the game, and physically right now he’s not capable of doing that.”

At one point in the third quarter, Miami was shooting 69 percent from the field and 68 percent from 3-point range for the game. The Heat cooled down the stretch, finishing at 53 percent from the floor and 56 percent from beyond the arc.

There was plenty of buzz pregame, for good reason — matchup of division leaders, teams looking to go deep into the postseason. And when the Clippers said before the game that Billups (left foot tendinitis), Paul (bruised right kneecap), Griffin (strained left hamstring) and Jamal Crawford (sore right shoulder) were all fit to return, it seemed as if a showdown was highly possible.

That thought didn’t last for long.

“You can write this off that we got everybody back and we were a little rusty,” Griffin said. “But we have to be better.”

Miami’s lead after the first quarter was 30-29. The Heat — who shot 68 percent in the first half — outscored the Clippers 63-39 in the next two quarters, turning things into quite a rout.

Crawford and Griffin each finished with 13 points for the Clippers.

“When the lights are bright and the popcorn’s poppin’, our guys come to life,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s a great quality.”

Game notes

Miami now has the best home record in the Eastern Conference, with Indiana losing Friday night at home to Toronto. … Heat F Udonis Haslem passed the 5,000-rebound mark for his career during the game. … The Heat continue their L.A. story at home Sunday, playing host to the Los Angeles Lakers. … Clippers F Caron Butler said before the game that he still enjoys playing in Miami, noting it was the Heat who “took a chance” on him coming into the league and it gives him a chance to see the NBA’s “Godfather” in Heat president Pat Riley. … Clippers backup C Ronny Turiaf got his NBA championship ring from the Heat in a brief pregame ceremony. … Billups and Paul combined to shoot 3-for-10.

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If Griffin, who is suffering from a hamstring strain, does sit out, he will join guards Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups on Los Angeles’ bench.

Griffin ended a streak of 197 games played when he sat out Monday’s loss to the Washington Wizards with the left hamstring injury and did not go through shootaround Wednesday morning. He will be re-evaluated Thursday before the Clippers play the Miami Heat on Friday.

This will be the ninth straight game and 12th overall Paul has missed this season with a bruised right kneecap.

The five-time All-Star injured his knee with 54 seconds left in the Clippers’ 104-101 loss to the Magic on Jan. 12 when he collided with Orlando guard J.J. Redick.

Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe has started the 11 games Paul has missed, with the team going 5-6 during that time.

Billups has been out with peroneal tendinitis in his left foot and has played only three games this season. Although Billups didn’t go through shootaround on Wednesday, he believes Thursday’s practice will let him know whether he can come back before the end of the Clippers’ road trip.

“I’m looking forward to practicing tomorrow and going up and down,” Billups said Wednesday. “Tomorrow I’ll be able to compete and see how I feel.”

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Serge Ibaka added 17 points before fouling out late while helping the Thunder improve to a league-leading 33-9 and expand their lead in the Western Conference standings to 1½ games over the Clippers, who were without All-Star Chris Paul and fell to 32-11.

Blake Griffin had 31 points and 11 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 14 points off the bench. Eric Bledsoe scored 12 points starting in place of Paul, who missed his fourth game because of a bruised right kneecap. He missed three road wins last week, then played the next two games but it was obvious Paul wasn’t himself so he was held out Tuesday.

The Clippers had won four straight at home against the Thunder, and they led much of the first quarter before giving up the lead for good early in the second.

Los Angeles made a run to start the fourth, with Grant Hill and Crawford combining to score seven in a row and close to 82-75. That was as close as the Clippers came in losing their second straight.

Durant keyed a 3-point barrage over the next nearly 4 minutes, making three of them himself while Westbrook added one and Ibaka had another to extend the Thunder’s lead to 99-82 — their largest of the game. Durant scored on a driving dunk to make it 101-85, then punctuated it by punching his right arm in the air.

The Clippers cut their deficit to 105-97. After Westbrook missed, Griffin raced down court and proceeded to throw the ball into the seats. He bent over with his head in his hands.

Having beaten the Clippers in overtime in November, the Thunder won the season series, with one game remaining on Jan. 22.

Oklahoma City pulled away to a 77-61 lead in the third on a 3-pointer by Thabo Sefolosha and a fast break dunk by Westbrook. The Clippers cut it to nine on seven straight points, including four by Crawford, before the Thunder scored the last five points to lead 82-68 going into the fourth.

The Thunder controlled the second, taking their first lead of the game on Kevin Martin’s 3-pointer 45 seconds in. That launched a 13-2 run that gave the Thunder a nine-point lead, their largest to that point. Griffin scored the Clippers’ final six points to help them close to 49-45 at halftime.

The Clippers led by eight before the Thunder closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 22-all.

Game notes

It was Paul’s bobblehead night. … Clippers F Caron Butler swatted away a shot in the second quarter and the ball hit referee Derek Richardson in the head, knocking him backward to the court. He wasn’t hurt. … The Thunder improved to 2-1 on their season-high six-game trip. … The Clippers agreed to a 10-year extension of their lease at Staples Center, where they are one of the arena’s original tenants. The extension takes effect at the end of this season, and will keep them in the arena through June 2024.

The post Kevin Durant scores 32 points as Thunder race past Clippers appeared first on IdealCapper.

Something had to give, and this time, it was the Clippers.

J.J. Redick gave Orlando its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left, Arron Afflalo tied his season high with 30 points, and the Magic won 104-101 on Saturday to snap a 10-game skid.

“It wasn’t a letdown by us. Don’t try to take anything away from them,” Clippers guard Chris Paul said. “They made tough shot after tough shot. J.J. Reddick had a hand in his face half the time.”

The loss ended the Clippers’ franchise-record, 13-game home winning streak and provided them with a scare when All-Star Paul went down holding his right knee with 54 seconds to go.

“It was real scary,” Paul said. “I was looking up, trying to run down the ball, and J.J. Redick and I bumped knees.”

Paul returned after a timeout and hit a 15-footer to draw his team within one with 33 seconds left.

But the Clippers turned the ball over on Jamal Crawford’s offensive foul, with Redick drawing the charge.

“I got the ball in transition and I thought I saw Matt (Barnes) over there,” Crawford said. “I thought I made the right decision, but J.J. Redick guessed right. I thought he was going to rotate, so I faced it. When I put the ball down he stayed there, so lucky guess.”

Josh McRoberts found Nikola Vucevic open under the basket, and Vucevic dunked to extend Orlando’s lead to 104-101 with 8 seconds left.

After a timeout, Crawford missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

“We got muffled a little, so we tried to make the best out of the situation,” he said.

The Clippers were 6 of 6 from the free throw line, and Orlando was 15 of 19.

“That’s unheard of,” Paul said. “Blake (Griffin) takes 22 shots and no free throws. That’s not typical for us.”

Redick added 21 points, and Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the injury-riddled Magic, who also stopped a four-game road losing streak. They completed a sweep of the L.A. teams, having beaten the Lakers 113-103 at Staples Center on Dec. 2, when Afflalo also scored 30 points.

“Too bad we can’t play here all year,” said Afflalo, who starred at UCLA before Vucevic played across town at Southern California. “I was the sour grape at the end letting guys know this only counts as one game.”

Griffin tied his season-high with 30 points, Crawford added 13 points, and Paul had 10 points and 16 assists for the Clippers.

“This was a bad loss,” Griffin said. “We have to get back to what made us successful and what got us here. That was our defensive intensity and everybody contributing and everybody having a fire out there.”

Crawford’s 3-pointer gave the Clippers a 95-87 lead in the fourth. But the Magic rallied to tie the game at 95-all with eight straight points. The run was capped by Vucevic’s jumper after Afflalo made a 3-pointer while being fouled by Barnes, who picked up his fifth.

“An embarrassing performance for us,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We got what we deserved.”

The Magic had earlier fourth-quarter leads against Miami, the Knicks, Portland and Denver this season, but were unable to finish. Not this time against a sluggish Clippers team that was coming off two days’ rest, as was the Magic.

“We weren’t just losing and not giving the effort,” Afflalo said. “We were losing very close games and we kept fighting.”

The Magic had been struggling since big man Glen Davis hurt his left shoulder on Dec. 19. They finally won their first game without him, improving to 6-11 on the road and 13-23 overall since he got injured.

“We were able to put it together, and some things went our way,” Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We earned it.”

Orlando opened the third with a 17-9 run, including 12 by Afflalo to make it 66-66.

“Seven of our last 10 games have all been one possession games at one point or another in the last minute and we just haven’t had the ball bounce our way,” Redick said. “The law of averages worked out.”

Powered by Griffin, the Clippers ended the period on an identical 17-9 spurt to lead 83-75. Griffin scored their final 10 points, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk and back-to-back hook shots, the latter banking in on a turnaround move.

Grant Hill made his season debut for the Clippers, entering the game to a standing ovation in the fourth. The seven-time All-Star had missed 36 games with a bone bruise in his right knee. He made two free throws and had two rebounds in six minutes.

“When Vinny called my number, I was really nervous,” he said. “But that’s part of it, the butterflies. It’s still kind of new, getting out there and playing with this team. The most important thing is that my knee felt good. My legs were a little heavy. But I passed the test.”

The Clippers led by 13 points twice in the first half. The Magic tied the game three times in the second quarter before the Clippers restored their lead to double digits on a 3-pointer by Paul that capped a 13-0 run.

Game notes

Hill played his 998th NBA game. He hadn’t played since Oct. 13 when he had eight points and three rebounds in an exhibition game against Miami in Shanghai. … Vaughn said Davis is progressing back in Orlando and there’s “nothing negative” in his rehab. … Del Negro watched his alma mater, 20th-ranked North Carolina State, upset No. 1 Duke before his game. … Vaughn spent the team’s off day visiting his parents in nearby Pasadena, where he starred as a prep player. … Shaquille O’Neal sat courtside wearing a Dodgers hoodie, while Dodgers manager Don Mattingly attended, too.

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