A historic night for Chris Paul on Friday was marred by two incidents, one an altercation between Los Angeles Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard, during the visiting Phoenix Suns’ 115-105 triumph.
Paul led Phoenix with 23 points and a game-high 14 assists. When he made a free throw in the second quarter, he scored his 20,000th point, the 47th player to do so, and he became the first in NBA history with 20,000 points and 10,000 assists.
Late in the first half, Davis and Howard had a shoving match on the Lakers’ bench during a timeout.
Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY
In the third quarter, Rajon Rondo had a run-in with a fan when the Lakers guard was pointing at the man following a soft drink having been thrown or spilled on the sidelines.
The man slapped Rondo’s hand away, then was quickly escorted away by security guards.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker backed Paul with 22 points, while Mikal Bridges added 21 and Jae Crowder 13.
Deandre Ayton pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to complement eight points. LeBron James finished with 25 points and Davis 22 to go with a team-high 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 32 points.
WIZARDS 135, PACERS 134 (OT)
Spencer Dinwiddie scored eight of his team-high 34 points in the final 2 minutes, 17 seconds of regulation to force overtime as hosts Washington went on an 11-2 run in the extra frame to power past Indiana.
Washington gave up the first six points in overtime, but whittled away at the deficit to set up what ultimately gave the Wizards the lead for good. Davis Bertans hit a three-pointer off one of Dinwiddie’s nine assists with 35.2 seconds remaining, breaking a 131-131 tie.
Bertans was one of three Wizards to score in double-figures coming off the bench with 17 points. Raul Neto scored 18 points, and Montrezl Harrell added 14 points and seven rebounds.
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Kings 101, Jazz 110
‧ 76ers 109, Nets 114
‧ Nuggets 102, Spurs 96
‧ Rockets 124, Thunder 91
‧ Magic 96, Knicks 121
‧ Bulls 128, Pelicans 112
‧ Cavaliers 112, Hornets 123
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