Clippers at Nets
The Los Angeles Clippers tired late on Saturday in the second night of a back-to-back and watched their three-game winning streak end with a 112-98 loss at the Philadelphia 76ers. The Clippers, who earned an emotional win over former teammate Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons on Friday, will try to regroup in time to continue the road trip by visiting the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Los Angeles pulled within 95-93 in the fourth quarter against the 76ers before slowing down the stretch and ended up 8-of-32 from 3-point range. "We took a lot of threes," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "Most nights I'm fine with that. I thought when you're tired, at some point you should take the ball to the basket and make a play. I thought tonight we kind of settled." The loss was the first since Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and Boban Marjanovic, who came over in the Griffin trade, joined the team. The Nets are losers of five in a row and nine of 10 but battled the New Orleans Pelicans into double overtime at home on Saturday before falling 138-128.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), YES (Brooklyn)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (28-26): Bradley and Harris are providing a spark to their new team, but the return of small forward Danilo Gallinari is another big reason the team is staying in the playoff hunt despite trading Griffin. Gallinari played in just two games between Nov. 5 and Jan. 28 while dealing with a glute tear but isn't having any trouble adjusting in five games since returning to the lineup. The 29-year-old Italy native is averaging 21 points on 52.2 percent shooting (43.3 percent from beyond the arc) and proved himself in game shape by scoring 22 points while logging 40 minutes on Saturday.
ABOUT THE NETS (19-38): Brooklyn was down 28 points to the Pelicans on Saturday before coming back to force overtime. "It's just too many times that we've gotten in a big hole," Nets coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters. "I loved the comeback, I loved our spirit in the second half, how competitive we are. I'm just mystified how the first half was completely different. We've talked about this before. You just can't get in a hole down 28 against a very good team. But I am proud of the way we stuck together and really competed and made it a heck of a game." Brooklyn tied a franchise record with 21 3-pointers in the loss but needed 59 attempts (35.6 percent) to hit that mark.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets PG Spencer Dinwiddie is 20-of-20 from the free-throw line over the last four games.
2. Clippers C DeAndre Jordan is averaging 17.5 rebounds over the last six games, including 21 at Philadelphia.
3. Los Angeles suffered a 127-122 double-overtime loss in its trip to Brooklyn last season.