Durant, Beal lead Suns to 116-113 OT victory over Clippers, spoiling LA’s Intuit Dome opener
Durant, Beal lead Suns to 116-113 OT victory over Clippers, spoiling LA’s Intuit Dome opener
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Bradley Beal added 24 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Clippers 116-113 in overtime Wednesday night, spoiling Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome debut in the opener for both teams.
James Harden had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers. He had a chance to send it to double overtime, but missed the second of two free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining.
Jusuf Nurkic gave the Suns a three-point advantage with a pair of free throws. The Clippers had one last chance to send it to another extra session, but Grayson Allen forced a turnover near midcourt after the inbounds pass.
Ivica Zubac had 21 points for the Clippers, but fouled out with 2:15 remaining in overtime.
Takeaways
Suns: Mike Budenholzer picked up the victory in his first game as Phoenix’s coach and improved to 12-9 in his career against the Clippers.
Clippers: Norman Powell will go down as the player who made the first basket at Intuit Dome with his jumper 17 second into the game. … LA had a 62-42 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded the Suns by nine (51-42), but Zubac’s foul trouble in overtime played a huge role.
Key moment
The Clippers had a 99-90 lead before the Suns scored 11 straight points to go back on top. Devin Booker had four points during Phoenix’s rally, but fouled out with 1:27 remaining. Harden scored four straight points to give LA a 103-101 advantage, but Durant tied it with a 15-footer with 21.2 seconds remaining.
Key stat
The Suns were 1 of 4 from the field in overtime, but made all 10 of their foul shots. Nurkic and Beal were 4 of 4 and Durant made a pair.
Up next
The Suns remain in Southern California to face the Lakers on Friday night, while the Clippers are at Denver on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
