Clippers win fifth straight, beat Knicks 124-113

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Clippers win fifth straight, beat Knicks 124-113

2019-03-25 17:46 Last Updated At：17:50

Doc Rivers insists he doesn't stress about the standings or speculate about seeding.

If he decides to look Sunday, he'll be delighted with how high his Clippers have climbed.

Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points to extend the best scoring streak of his career, and Los Angeles beat the New York Knicks 124-113 for its fifth straight victory.

Lou Williams had 29 points and fellow reserve Montrezl Harrell added 24 to provide their usual potent play off the bench for the Clippers, who moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference.

A team that once appeared to be fighting just to make the playoffs is an NBA-best 14-4 since Feb. 9, positioning itself to avoid a powerhouse such as Golden State in the first round.

"We're ready to play whoever we end up playing," Rivers said. "In the meantime, let's just keep winning games and everything will take care of itself."

Gallinari made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:12 remaining to make it 106-104, then hit a pair of free throws before Williams made another 3 to push it to 111-104 with 3:02 to go. The Clippers then pulled away from there to win for the 10th time in 11 games.

Gallinari, the Knicks' first-round pick in 2008, has scored 20 or more in his past nine games.

"The last quarter our intensity went up, our defense was better and we were able to make some clutch plays at the end," Gallinari said.

Emmanuel Mudiay had 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Knicks (14-60), who dropped their fourth straight to secure the second 60-loss season in franchise history. Former Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Already without a couple of injured starters, the Knicks lost their past two lottery picks during the game. Kevin Knox sat out the second half with a sprained right ankle and Frank Ntilikina missed it because of a sore groin. Ntilikina had just returned Friday from a groin injury that had sidelined him nearly two months.

Still, the Knicks battled back from double-digit deficits in both halves before the Clippers' finishing surge.

Knicks coach David Fizdale said the focus for the Knicks was getting off to better starts than they had recently, and it appeared they were on their way to failing that mission when the Clippers bolted to an 8-0 lead.

But they cut it to 29-24 after one quarter, and after Los Angeles pushed the lead to 14 in the second on Harrell's follow shot, surged into the lead before the Clippers took a 60-59 edge into the half.

"The first few minutes I just told them to wake the hell up," Fizdale said. "We were still in bed those first couple of minutes. And then the final four, we really had four defensive breakdowns and they capitalized on each one of them."

TIP-INS

Clippers: Starting F Landry Shamet limped off early in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. ... Patrick Beverley scored 12 points.

Knicks: New York remained without Dennis Smith Jr. (sore back), Noah Vonleh (sprained right ankle) and Allonzo Trier (strained left calf). ... New York had lost its past three games by 36, 21 and 18 points.

HIGH NOON

The Clippers were the third straight West Coast team with a noon tip for a weekend game at Madison Square Garden. Sacramento won here on March 9 when it was opening a road trip and the Lakers lost on March 17. Rivers brought up the difficulty of the start time for his team even before taking any questions, and was asked if it's unfair to make a team play at what feels like 9 a.m.

"Yeah, it is unfair," he said. "But who cares, we're going to show up and we have to play."

STRONG SHOOTING

Jordan came in shooting 70 percent this season on free throws, a remarkable improvement after he shot under 45 percent during his 10 seasons in Los Angeles and teams would sometimes foul him intentionally.

"I didn't teach him well enough, clearly," Rivers said, praising Jordan's improvement but joking that "I've already told him we're fouling him the first four times" because they didn't believe he could be as good as his stats say.

UP NEXT

Clippers: Visit Minnesota on Tuesday.

Knicks: Host Toronto on Thursday.

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Maye throws late TD pass and Patriots' defense roughs up Herbert, Chargers in 16-3 playoff win

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talked to his team about being prepared to bleed as New England entered its first playoff game since the 2021 season.

Then, shortly after Milton Williams sacked the Chargers' Justin Herbert on Sunday night to secure the Patriots' first playoff victory in seven years, Williams celebrated with a head-butt of Vrabel.

It knocked the first-year coach backward and bloodied his lip.

“The big dogs come out in January. I think Milt took that to heart,” Vrabel said. “He came over and got me pretty good. But that’s what happens.”

Drake Maye threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter, and New England's defense roughed up Herbert as the Patriots beat Los Angeles 16-3 in an AFC wild-card playoff game.

Andy Borregales kicked three field goals for the Patriots (15-3), who hadn't won in the postseason since their Super Bowl victory to cap the 2018 season. They’ll host the winner of Monday night’s game between Pittsburgh and Houston in the divisional round.

In his playoff debut, Maye completed 17 of 29 passes for 268 yards and ran for a team-high 66 yards.

“We made plays when we had to do it,” Maye said.

He also threw an interception and lost a fumble, but the Chargers (11-7) couldn't capitalize on those turnovers.

New England held Los Angeles to 207 yards of offense and sacked Herbert six times, with one of those resulting in a lost fumble that set up the Patriots' TD.

“It's on us, what we do. I've been saying that all season,” Williams said. “We can control the game. If we do what we need to do up front, we're going to win.”

This is the second straight season in which the Chargers have lost in the wild-card round. Herbert finished 19 of 31 for 159 yards and was his team's leading rusher with 57 yards as he fell to 0-3 in the playoffs.

Herbert was just over a month removed from surgery to repair a broken bone in his nonthrowing hand.

“There was no issue,” Herbert said. “I just have to do a better job holding on to the ball.”

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said his quarterback wasn't 100 percent.

“He’s a warrior. He just gives it everything he has, all the time,” Harbaugh said, acknowledging that Herbert was limited by his hand injury. “It’s an issue, but he doesn’t flinch, like a warrior would.”

The last time the Chargers failed to score a TD in the playoffs was their 21-12 AFC championship game loss to the Patriots during the 2007 season.

The Patriots drove into the red zone on their first possession of the third quarter, but the drive ended when Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh and De'Shawn Hand recovered for the Chargers.

After Los Angeles punted, Maye connected on a pass to Kayshon Boutte that went for 42 yards to set the Patriots up on the Chargers 27. But New England settled for a 39-yard field goal that stretched their lead to 9-3.

Early in the fourth quarter, Maye used a 16-yard pass to Boutte and a 13-yard burst by Rhamondre Stevenson to set up his precise 28-yard TD toss to Henry that put the Patriots in front 16-3.

The Chargers picked up back-to-back first downs to open their ensuing drive. But when Herbert dropped back to pass on the next play, linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson strip-sacked him and fell on loose ball.

Los Angeles had one final possession, but it ended with Herbert getting sacked by Williams on fourth down.

“It’s playoff football. It’s going to get ugly. It’s going to get nasty. But you’ve got to keep going,” Williams said.

The opening quarter had lots of action, but it took until early in the second quarter for the Patriots to end a scoreless stalemate.

With New England pinned inside its own 10 after a Chargers punt, Maye had a pass intended for Austin Hooper tipped by Teair Tart and intercepted by Daiyan Henley.

Los Angeles started with the ball on the Patriots 10 but was stopped on fourth-and-2 when Herbert misfired a pass to Keenan Allen.

The Patriots took over and got some breathing room via a 48-yard catch-and-run by Stevenson.

Thirteen plays and a fourth-down conversion later, the drive ended with Borregales' 23-yard field goal.

Patriots: CB Carlton Davis left in the first half with a toe injury but returned. ... CB Christian Gonzalez left in the second half with a head injury.

Chargers: End of season.

Patriots: Host either Houston or Pittsburgh next Sunday.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl