The Clippers Outclass The Lakers; Carmelo Anthony Is On The Hottest Scoring Streak Of The NBA Season

It was fun watching Craig knock Deebo out. And in the ongoing Lakers/Clippers rivalry, it almost feels like that scene is playing out again and again. Los Angeles will always be a Lakers city. Always. But presently, there’s no question which team is best. The Clips answered the call again in yesterday’s matinee, busting up their big brother, 109-95. They go to another level almost at will against the Lakers. Early in the second half, you could feel it coming. Even with Kobe (25 points, 10 dimes) getting cranky and bellowing “Let’s go… let’s go!” the Lakers could not reach back into the chamber and pull out more bullets. You watch Steve Blake miss corner three after corner three. You see the Lakers get beat to every loose ball. Then you see Ryan Hollins dunking on heads, Chris Paul (24 points, 12 assists) hitting rainbows, Matt Barnes being quietly effective, and it’s no wonder, it’s no secret that the Lakers just can’t hang. In the end, Blake Griffin (24 points, 12 boards) capped off the team’s new division title with a gravity-defying follow up on a CP miss and then hit a triple. … There was a first half comparison of passing between Bryant and Griffin. Have you ever seen that before? Griffin had four dimes by the break, threading needles all over the place from the high post. Bryant was even better. He had nine assists in the first half, including back-to-back ones just before the break where first he found Pau Gasol off the pick-n-roll with a behind-the-back, then brought it up on the fast break and lobbed it to Howard, who finished with a dunk and a foul over Jamal Crawford. … Caron Butler had a throwback moment in the first half, going baseline and cramming on Antawn Jamison‘s unsuspecting head. Feeling good about himself, he tried it again in the second half against Dwight Howard (25 points). Superman nearly palmed the ball at the apex for one of the best blocks of the season. … Marc Gasol went from the goat to the hero during Memphis’ 89-87 victory in Sacramento. Up one with a minute left, Gasol (15 points, 10 boards, five blocks) missed two freebies, and that was followed up with DeMarcus Cousins (22 points, nine rebounds) pulling out a 17-footer that spun in to give the Kings a one-point lead, finishing off a 9-0 spurt. Mike Conley (25 points) countered with a floater with the off hand before Gasol redeemed himself on the following possession (sort of) by blocking/fouling Cousins at the rim, causing DMC to lose his cool and nearly get thrown out. Finally, Sacramento had one final chance but Gasol locked up Marcus Thornton, and then the big man stuff the potential game-winner. … Conley’s been a new guy since Memphis traded Rudy Gay. He’s become the go-to player down the stretch for Memphis, something you never would’ve thought possible even so much as a year ago. They went to him over and over again on Friday night in Los Angeles, and while that didn’t work, probably the most telling sign is that they went right back to him again last night. … And Kevin Garnett returned to the lineup for Boston, and while his numbers weren’t impressive (12 points, six boards), his presence helped slow the hard-charging Wizards. The Celtics beat them by 11, getting a game-high 20 points from Brandon Bass. … Keep reading to get an update on the crazy NBA scoring race…

New York might be a full 10 games behind the Heat, but in a way that’s irrelevant. With the way they’re playing, 12 wins in a row after going into OKC yesterday and beating the Thunder, 125-120, they’re right back to where they were to start the season… you remember… back when they took care of business multiple times against the defending NBA champs. We’re not saying they’re going to beat South Beach in the playoffs, but they look like they’ll have a chance. Much of that is because of Carmelo Anthony‘s incredible scoring run. He had 36 more points (and 12 rebounds) yesterday, which gives him the highest four-game scoring run of the NBA season. But the guy who’s been the real difference-maker is J.R. Smith. He had 22 points and seven boards, and in a tight game in the last minute, Ray Felton (16 points, eight assists) slipped in the paint, then tipped the ball out to Smith, who made a three from Texas. It was his second-straight huge bucket. … On the other side, Russell Westbrook (37 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) was an animal, scoring 14 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and just exploding to the hoop like he had a trampoline following him around. It was a good way to make up with our eyes after seeing him in that hideous new photoshoot with ESPN The Magazine. … OKC’s best run came to start the fourth after Kevin Martin‘s corner three made it a three-point game (While Nick Collison and Tyson Chandler were busy clocking each other in the face). But even after that, and even after Westbrook had two straight buckes to push OKC up one with under five to play, ‘Melo was abusing Kevin Durant (27 points) on the block, and then playing volleyball with himself on the glass. … Durant and Anthony are now literally percentage points apart in the NBA scoring race. Did you know their final games of the season will happen at the exact same time? It’s going to be fun. … In women’s basketball, the Cinderella Louisville Cardinals came from 10 back at the half to stun No. 2-seeded Cal, 64-57, to reach the tournament finals. Antonita Slaughter had 18 points, all of them on triples. … While in the other semifinal, UConn finally beat Notre Dame (having lost against them in their first three matchups this year), 83-65. Skylar Diggins had one of the worst games of her Irish career, shooting 3-for-15 and committing six turnovers. … In other NBA scores from last night: Nikola Vucevic destroyed Cleveland, but even his 21 points and 21 boards weren’t enough to stop the Cavs from winning, 91-85; Detroit beatdown the Bulls by 14 as Brandon Knight had 20 points; the Jazz took a huge step toward the playoffs with a surprising 97-90 win in Golden State behind 25 points from Mo Williams; Dallas got 26 and 11 from Chris Kaman in a five-point win over Portland; and Anthony Davis scored 20 points in the Hornets’ 95-92 W over Phoenix. … We’re out like everyone’s defense on ‘Melo.

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