Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Clippers completed their first season sweep of Utah in 34 years by beating the Jazz 107-94 on Saturday, restoring their 6-1/2 game lead in the NBA’s Pacific Division.
Caron Butler scored 21 points and Los Angeles rode a big third quarter to victory.
In other key games, Miami’s winning streak hit double figures with a victory over Philadelphia, Indiana comfortably beat Detroit for the second night in a row, and Atlanta edged Milwaukee by a single point.
Los Angeles’ Blake Griffin and Lamar Odom scored 18 points each for the Clippers, who have won six straight over Utah dating back to last year.
Reserve Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 23 points.
Miami’s LeBron James had 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 35th career triple-double as the Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-90.
Dwyane Wade had 33 points for the defending NBA champions, who have won 10 in a row to assume a handy 4-1/2 game lead in the Eastern Conference.
Jrue Holiday scored 21 points for Philadelphia, which remained 3-1/2 games behind Milwaukee for the last play-off spot in the East.
Indiana’s David West scored 16 points and Paul George added a double-double to help the Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons 90-72, making an aggregate of 50 points in winning margin over the two games.
After trailing by as many as 43 in Indiana on Friday, the Pistons started the second game of this set by missing 16 of their first 17 shots. Will Bynum led Detroit with 15 points before getting ejected for striking Tyler Hansbrough in the groin in the fourth quarter.
Atlanta’s Al Horford sank a hook shot with 5.9 seconds remaining to give the Hawks a 103-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in a game that was close throughout.
Horford had 23 points and 11 rebounds while Jeff Teague also scored 23 and added nine assists for the Hawks, who rallied from a late seven-point deficit.
Ersan Ilyasova had 19 points for Milwaukee.
Denver’s JaVale McGee had 17 points, including seven dunks, as the Nuggets snapped a four-game road losing skid with a 113-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Washington’s Emeka Okafor had 17 points, 11 rebounds and made the go-ahead free throw with 5.2 seconds remaining to help the Wizards overcome a 3-point barrage by the Houston Rockets and win 105-103.
Cleveland’s Marreese Speights scored 18 points as the Cavaliers used a big fourth quarter to run past the Orlando Magic and win 118-94.
