Clippers at Knicks
The Los Angeles Clippers are trying to emerge from the pack of teams fighting over the final four spots in the Western Conference playoff bracket and are winners of four straight after taking the opener of a four-game trip on Friday. The Clippers will try to make it five in a row when they visit the NBA-worst New York Knicks on Sunday.
Los Angeles entered Friday in a four-way tie for the No. 5 spot in the West and emerged from the night as one of two teams in that position after edging the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-108. "I thought we played inconsistent tonight and we won the game," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "We were supposed to foul on (the final play) and we didn't, so we just got lucky." The Knicks are losers 11 of the last 12 as they close in on the worst record in the NBA and dropped the last three games by an average of 25 points. "We're getting the hell smacked out of us," New York coach David Fizdale told reporters. "We've run into a buzzsaw at this point of the schedule."
TV: Noon, ET, FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (43-30): Los Angeles small forward Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting and helped bring the team back after it fell into a 40-25 hole after the first quarter on Friday. "(Gallinari) picked us up down the stretch," Rivers told reporters. "Actually, he picked us up in the first quarter. I thought that was the key. Because they could have got away from us in a big way, and I thought Gall kept us in it. And then I thought from that point on, everyone did a little." The performance marked Gallinari's eighth consecutive game scoring 20 or more points.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (14-59): The season is all about development for New York, and second-year point guard Frank Ntilikina returned in time to sneak in a little more of his own when he came back from a groin injury on Friday. Ntilikina missed 24 games but played 25 minutes in his return and struggled with his shot, finishing with five points on 1-of-6 shooting. "I thought he was all right," Knicks coach David Fizdale told reporters of Ntilikina. "He was solid. He helped people get their shots. He defended. Shooting will always be rusty when you're out that long."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers rookie PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 68.2 percent from beyond the arc in March.
2. Knicks rookie C Mitchell Robinson posted his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes on Friday.
3. Los Angeles rolled over New York at home 128-107 on March 3 for its 12th win in the last 13 meetings.