Sports

AMMAN — Under the patronage of HRH Prince Firas Bin Raad and the organisation of Run Jordan, the Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon kicks off on Friday with the participation of thousands of runners from around the world.

The event held under the theme “Run for a Cause”, will witness the participation of more than 500 students from different public schools in Aqaba as part of Run Jordan’s agreement with The Ministry of Education.

Lina Kurd, Run Jordan general manager, told The Jordan Times that all preparations are complete to host one of the most popular events in running.

“We are really excited to start the race which will host thousands of runners who will be part of supporting several organisations such as Al Haya Charitable Association for Wheat Allergic Patients in Aqaba and at the same time facilitate the participation of members of Ajyal Society for the Physically Handicapped,” she said.

“This year marks the 13th anniversary of Ayla event. The marathon will witness a huge participation from our Jordanian athletes and amateurs, regional and international runners; the thing that will help us shed light on sports tourism to promote Aqaba as a world class Red Sea attraction,” she added.

The race consists of three categories: 21km, 10km Fun Run and 4.2km Children’s Race. The starting point for the 21km race will be the Intercontinental Hotel and end at Revolution Square (Sahet Al Thawra). The 10km event will start before the north gate of Ayla project towards Revolution Square and the 4.2km will start from Ayla as well through Al Farouq Street towards the Revolution Square.

Last year, Jordanian runners dominated the event with Ahmad Samour clocking 1h 06m 43s to take the first place in the male overall 21km followed by Ayman Al Sardy with 1h10m20s in the second place and Abdulla Al Soud settled in the third place with 1h10m23s.

NEW DELHI — Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva struck a heroic hundred and Roshen Silva made a gallant unbeaten 74 to help secure a morale-boosting draw in the final Test against India, which won the three-match series 1-0 on Wednesday.

Playing his first match in the series, de Silva braved a thigh injury to score 119 before retiring hurt.

Debutant Silva and Niroshan Dickwella then batted out the final session as the tourists secured their second draw of the series at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

The tourists, who finished on 299-5, could not chase down the 410-run victory target but battled superbly to salvage some pride after being outplayed in the series.

India’s ninth straight Test series triumph puts the world number one side into an elite club with Australia and England.

“When you’re not able to finish off in the second innings after having them three down on day four is disappointing,” India captain Virat Kohli said at the presentation ceremony.

“But they played well, they showed composure and confidence,” added the batsman who was given the man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.

Sri Lanka resistance

Resuming the final day on a precarious 31-3, Sri Lanka lost Angelo Mathews early in the morning session, but de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal resisted India for two hours as the smog-hit Test finally saw a mostly sunny day.

India tasted success in the sixth over of the day when Mathews was caught in the slip off Ravindra Jadeja for one.

Dropped three times in his first innings knock of 111, Mathews was not so lucky in the second, given out on a no-ball which went undetected by umpire Joel Wilson.

Jadeja bowled Chandimal, then on 24, with a drifted, sharply-turning ball, but replays confirmed the left-arm spinner had marginally overstepped.

Nimble-footed de Silva scored freely, especially against the spinners, while Chandimal looked content playing second fiddle.

Ashwin ended the 112-run partnership when he lured Chandimal out of the crease and spun the ball past his bat to hit the stumps.

The Sri Lanka captain, who smashed a career-best 164 in the first innings, made 36.

Full-blooded drive

Ashwin had a chance to catch de Silva, then on 110, off his own bowling but the off-spinner spilled the full-blooded drive.

By then, de Silva was struggling with his thigh injury and the 26-year-old eventually hobbled off the field, passing on the baton to Silva, who proved equal to the challenge.

De Silva’s third Test century contained 15 boundaries and a six off Ashwin.

Silva and Niroshan Dickwella (44 not out) raised 94 runs, denying India a wicket in the final session, before the teams shook hands.

“It was a really good series, apart from the second one [Test]. We learnt a lot,” Chandimal said.

“Dhananjaya and Roshen batted really well in tough conditions against some great bowlers... Dickwella played a totally different brand of cricket. [I’m] happy with the way we played today.”

ADELAIDE — England were 178 runs from a stunning comeback victory in the second Ashes Test after James Anderson grabbed five wickets and Joe Root steered the tourists to 176 for four at close of play on an extraordinary fourth day on Tuesday.

Root, who eked out a half century under the Adelaide Oval lights, will probably need to stay out in the sun for much of the fifth day if he is to lead England to a first test win in Australia in nearly seven years.

Root will resume unbeaten on 67 with Chris Woakes (five not out) keeping his skipper company after Dawid Malan was bowled for 29 by a Pat Cummins snorter shortly before the close.

“We’re delighted to be in a position to have any chance of winning the game,” said Anderson, whose 5-43 gave him his first five-wicket haul in Australia.

“There’s a huge amount of work to do but we’re in with a chance, which we didn’t think we would be after the first couple of days. It would be huge for us.”

Australia skipper Steve Smith will be hoping his bowlers can keep up the pressure on the final day and help him avoid the ignominy of becoming only the second captain to lose a test after not enforcing the follow-on.

“I think we’re still reasonably confident, obviously the last two days haven’t gone to plan but I think we’re still in front of the game,” said Australia bowling coach David Saker.

Anderson and Woakes (4-36) had fired England’s resurgence when they did the lion’s share of the work of dismissing the Australians for 138 at tea with a brilliant display of seam bowling.

Set a ground record 354 to level the series after last week’s 10-wicket Brisbane defeat, England made a steady start before losing openers Alastair Cook (16) and Mark Stoneman (36) in the last half-an-hour of the second session.

It was to the third session that Australia’s quicks would have been looking to make serious inroads into the England batting, however, and when James Vince was quickly caught in the slips off Mitchell Starc for 15, it looked to be going to plan.

England had started to enjoy the best of the DRS system, however, with Root first overturning an lbw decision off the bowling of Nathan Lyon and seeing a Smith review fail when the Australian suspected an inside edge.

Smith left his team with no referrals for what could be a tense final day a couple of balls later when he pursued an lbw decision against Malan only for the tracking to show the ball would have gone over the wickets.

Root, cheered on by the vocal Barmy Army of England fans, made the most of the reprieve and reached his fifty with a lovely back cut for four, one of nine boundaries he peppered throughout his 114-ball knock.

Anderson had earlier picked up where he left off in Monday’s night session, dismissing nightwatchman Lyon, a jittery Peter Handscomb and Starc.

Woakes chipped in to see off Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh cheaply, making sure the latter was unable to get anywhere near the unbeaten 126 he hit to underpin Australia’s 442 for eight declared in the first innings.

England had looked certain to go 2-0 down in the series after the inaugural Ashes day-nighter when it folded for 227 in reply, until Anderson finally found his mojo with the pink kookaburra.

James Harden scored 36 points and handed out nine assists, and the Houston Rockets won their sixth consecutive road game with a 118-95 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Houston have won all six road games in the streak by at least 15 points, setting an NBA record.

Eric Gordon scored 22 points off the bench and Chris Paul finished with 21 points and six assists for the Rockets.

Kyle Kuzma had 22 points and 12 rebounds off the bench to lead the Lakers, while Brandon Ingram had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Warriors 123, Heat 95

Stephen Curry scored 30 points to lead Golden State to a win over Miami.

The Warriors, who are 3-0 on their current road trip, also got 24 points from Kevin Durant and 19 from Klay Thompson. Curry, who scored 16 points in the first quarter, made 11 of 16 shots from the floor, including five of nine on 3-pointers.

The Heat were led by point guard Goran Dragic, who broke a slump with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting. In his three previous games, Dragic failed to score in double figures, averaging 6.7 points on 30 per cent shooting.

Thunder 90, Spurs 87

Russell Westbrook had his seventh triple-double of the season, leading Oklahoma past a San Antonio team depleted by injuries and other absences.

Russell finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but committed seven turnovers. Steven Adams added 19 points and 10 boards for the Thunder.

Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Davis Bertans added 16 points and five blocks. Already without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs sat forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay, and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Timberwolves 112, Clippers 106

Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, as Minnesota recovered and held on to beat Los Angeles.

Karl-Anthony Towns had his league-leading 19th double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Taj Gibson added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, which surrendered the lead in the fourth before Butler came to the rescue.

Austin Rivers scored 30 points, tying a career best with seven 3-pointers, for the shorthanded Clippers. DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles, who are is without four injured starters including Blake Griffin, Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari and Milos Teodosic.

Magic 105, Knicks 101

Nikola Vucevic scored 34 points and Orlando grabbed an early 17-point lead en route to just their second win in the last 12 games.

Evan Fournier had 20 and Jonathan Simmons added 16 as all five Magic starters scored in double figures. Orlando’s starting lineup accounted for 95 of the team’s 105 points.

Minus Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr, their top two scorers, the Knicks turned to Michael Beasley, who had 21 points. Courtney Lee had 19 points and Enes Kanter totaled 18 points and 16 rebounds to lead New York.

Reuters

Kyrie Irving scored five of his 19 points in the final 1:53 to help stop a Phoenix comeback and allow the Boston Celtics to escape with a 116-111 victory over the Suns on Saturday.

Phoenix had cut a late eight-point deficit down to two before Irving calmly drained a three-pointer with 1:53 left to start a crazy finish that saw the home team hold on for the win, despite 38 points from Devin Booker.

Booker, who scored 70 the last time he played at TD Garden, 51 in the second half, fouled out Saturday after hitting a three-pointer to bring his team to within three with 17.6 seconds left.

The win was the 10th in the last 11 home games for the Celtics, who are 20-2 in their last 22 games overall.

T.J. Warren scored 19 points and veteran big man Tyson Chandler delivered a season-high 18 rebounds and 14 points in the loss for Phoenix.

Mavericks 108, Clippers 82

JJ Barea came off the bench to collect 21 points and 10 assists and spark a second-quarter rally to help lead Dallas to an easy victory over Los Angeles.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle became the 18th coach — third active — to win at least 700 career games.

Lou Williams (18 points, six assists) and DeAndre Jordan (14 points, 17 rebounds) led the Clippers, who lost their second straight game.

Hawks 114, Nets 102

Dennis Schroder scored 24 points to lead Atlanta past Brooklyn.

Schroder reached 20 points for the 12th time, and Luke Babbitt hit 7-of-9 shots, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, to score a season-high 20 points. Babbitt led a second unit that produced 56 points.

Pelicans 123,
Trail Blazers 116

DeMarcus Cousins poured in 38 points as New Orleans topped Portland.

E’Twaun Moore added 19 points and Jrue Holiday 17 for the Pelicans, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Damian Lillard scored 29 points and CJ McCollum and Meyers Leonard added 17 apiece for the Trail Blazers, who lost their second straight.

Cavaliers 116, Grizzlies 111

LeBron James scored 34 points, including his team’s final 13, in Cleveland’s win over Memphis.

The Cavaliers have now won 11 consecutive games.

James scored 15 overall in the fourth quarter and strengthened his grip on the NBA lead in fourth-quarter scoring.

He entered averaging 9.3 points in the fourth quarter, and it was his jumper with five seconds left that finished the Grizzlies. He added 12 assists in 39 minutes.

76ers 108, Pistons 103

Joel Embiid and Robert Covington had 25 points apiece as Philadelphia rallied to beat Detroit.

Embiid, who had engaged in a war of words with Detroit centre Andre Drummond earlier in the day, added 10 rebounds. He made just 7-of-21 shots from the floor, however.

Drummond, who fouled out with 2:35 left, finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Bucks 109, Kings 104

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Milwaukee beat Sacramento for the second time in five days.

Khris Middleton scored 25 points and Eric Bledsoe added 19 as the Bucks shot 49.3 per cent and hit 6-of-19 three-point attempts.

Zach Randolph had 22 points off the bench to lead the Kings, who also got 19 from Buddy Hield and 14 from De’Aaron Fox while shooting 48.1 per cent, including 11 for 24 from beyond the arc.

Nuggets 115, Lakers 100

Jamal Murray scored 28 points, Will Barton had 13 of his 16 points down the stretch, and shorthanded Denver rallied to beat Los Angeles.

Trey Lyles had a season-high 18 points and Gary Harris and Kenneth Faried had 13 points apiece. Faried had nine rebounds for Denver, who has won seven straight at home.

Brandon Ingram had 20 points, Brook Lopez and Julius Randle had 15 apiece, and Lonzo Ball had nine points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Lakers.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s troublesome trend of letting second-half leads disappear looked like it was going to show itself again.

The Minnesota Timberwolves cut a double-digit Thunder lead to one possession with less than a minute to play, but Paul George hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds to play as the Thunder closed out a 111-107 win Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

George had 36 points and Oklahoma City centre Steven Adams had 27.

Heat 105, Hornets 100

Josh Richardson scored a career-high 27 points to lead Miami over Charlotte.

Dion Waiters finished with 19 points and Wayne Ellington scored 14 points as the Heat overcame a 15-point first-quarter deficit.

Miami took the lead for good and secured the victory with nine unanswered points late in the fourth quarter. Goran Dragic’s short jumper with 2:23 remaining in the period began the surge putting the Heat ahead 97-96.

Jazz 114, Bucks 108

Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 41 points and Alec Burks added 24 to help Utah rally past New Orleans.

Derrick Favours chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds for Utah as the Jazz won their fifth straight.

New Orleans had no way to slow Mitchell down after Anthony Davis exited with an apparent leg injury in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Davis had to be helped off the court and did not return. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Kings 107, Bulls 106

Zach Randolph scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Garrett Temple finished with 13 as Sacramento was victorious on the road.

Willie Cauley-Stein also had 10 points for the Kings, who handed the Bulls their eighth straight loss.

Bogdanovic capped the victory by splitting a pair of free throws in the closing seconds before Jerian Grant hit a 3-point field goal at the buzzer as the Bulls suffered their second one-point loss in as many nights.

Spurs 95, Grizzlies 79

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 22 points and Rudy Guy added 18 to lead San Antonio. The Spurs extended the Grizzlies’ losing streak to 10 games, the longest in the NBA this season.

Marc Gasol had 16 points to lead the Grizzlies and Ben McLemore scored a season-high 14. Chandler Parsons added 12.

The Spurs (15-7), who beat Memphis 104-95 on Wednesday night in San Antonio, pulled away from the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 28 points down the stretch.

Warriors 133, Magic 112

Klay Thompson scored 27 points and hot-shooting Golden State led from start to finish.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and made 10 of 14 shots, but he was ejected with 4:52 remaining for cursing at an official following his final basket.

Steph Curry had 23 points and 10 assists. Jordan Bell had 16 points. Draymond Green scored 12 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers in the second period.

Wizards 109, Pistons 91

Washington outscored Detroit 35-15 in the third quarter and evened its record on the season without All-Star John Wall.

Markieff Morris scored a season-high 23 points and Otto Porter had 17 for the Wizards, who had lost five of seven games. That includes two of the last three without Wall. The point guard was shut down on November 25 after receiving injections in his left knee to help relieve inflammation.

Tobias Harris scored 15 points for the Pistons. Detroit had won three in a row.

Raptors 120, Pacers 115

DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and added five assists and five rebounds to lead Toronto.

It was the third win in a row for the Raptors and the second straight loss for the Pacers who got 36 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Victor Oladipo.

SYDNEY — England must sweep aside the distraction of the Ben Stokes saga and get the ball swinging if it is to move back on level terms with Australia when day-night cricket makes its Ashes debut in Adelaide this weekend.

Speculation over the reasons behind Stokes’s trip to New Zealand has reached fever pitch in Australia, but would no doubt be less intense had the tourists not crumbled to a 10-wicket defeat in the series opener in Brisbane on Monday. 

Whether or not it was a ruse to get Stokes ready to play in a part in the series while a decision is awaited over a potential assault charge, it is certain that England will not be able to call on his considerable talents at Adelaide Oval. 

They will have James Anderson and Stuart Broad on board, however, and it is the prospect of the experienced pace duo getting the ball moving that has had the second of the five Tests long marked out as the most likely for an England win.

Two statistics would suggest that a victory in Adelaide is all but essential if the tourists are to retain the Ashes they won with a 3-2 series triumph on home soil in 2015. 

None of the six previous day-night Tests played anywhere in the world have finished in a draw, and only once has a team come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series — when Don Bradman’s Australia achieved the feat in 1936-7.

While Anderson and Broad shared 10 wickets when England won its maiden day-night Test against West Indies earlier this year, Australia’s pacemen have used the Kookaburra pink ball to win all three of theirs — two of them at Adelaide Oval.

“It is a unique ball,” said England’s Chris Woakes. “We have not bowled a huge amount with it. We had the warm up game here so we can draw on that experience of winning that game and hopefully that can stand us in good stead.”

Fastest wicket

Still the most picturesque of Australia’s Test venues after a sympathetic modernisation, the Adelaide Oval has shed its reputation as a batsman’s paradise since drop-in wickets were introduced in 2013.

The grass will be left a little longer than usual to avoid wear and tear on the pink ball and Australia coach Darren Lehmann is of the view the wicket gets even more pace-friendly under lights.

“There’s a lot of talk about it’ll seam and it’ll swing,” Lehmann said this week.

“The ball stays pretty good, but you can make runs if you play well. And it does quicken up at night — probably the fastest wicket around Australia at night — so that’s going to be interesting.”

Australia are likely to stick with the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, ably aided by Nathan Lyon’s off-spin, after bouncing England out in the second innings to win at the Gabba. 

England know they need improvement in all parts of their game to get back into the series, not least finding a way to dismiss Australia skipper Steve Smith. 

However much it was laughed off afterwards, the Jonny Bairstow “headbutt” saga will also have illustrated to the first time tourists in Joe Root’s party that the Australians will use any means to unsettle them.

If they can put their hosts under sustained pressure in the Adelaide twilight, however, it could be “game on” for the series when England head to the third test in Perth, with Stokes or without. 

MADRID — Much-criticised for his inconsistent form and long injury absences, Gareth Bale was for a change declared Real Madrid’s hero on Wednesday after saving a young side from an embarrassing Copa del Rey loss.

Real had a two goal advantage over third-tier Fuenlabrada entering the second leg, but a young side had fallen behind at home when the Welshman came off the bench.

“Bale prevents a disaster,” read Madrid sports daily Marca’s front page after Bale, in his first appearance for two months, helped tee up a double for Borja Mayoral in the final 27 minutes. Despite a late goal that earned the visitors a 2-2 draw, Real had done enough to win 4-2 on aggregate and seal a place in the last 16 of the Cup.

It has been a testing year for Bale, the world’s most expensive player when Real splashed out just over 100 million euro ($119 million) to bring him to Spain in 2013.

Bale has completed 90 minutes with Real just four times since injuring ankle ligaments against Sporting Lisbon in November 2016.

A series of calf problems followed, which meant he had to settle for a place on the bench on his homecoming to Cardiff for the Champions League final when Real thrashed Juventus 4-1 in June.

However, his ability to score and create has been missed in the early part of this season, as Madrid have fallen eight points behind Barcelona in La Liga and are doomed to finish second to Bale’s old club Tottenham Hotspur in Champions League Group H.

“Really enjoyed being back out there, and even better to get through to the next round,” Bale tweeted after the match.

His presence was more necessary than Real boss Zinedine Zidane could have imagined when, with a 2-0 first leg lead as a cushion, he named an inexperienced side

However, Luis Milla put the visitors in front thanks to a blunder from Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas before Cata Diaz was centimetres away from bringing Fuenlabrada level in the tie with a header that struck the bar.

In desperate circumstances, fans at the Santiago Bernabeu rose to acclaim Bale as a returning hero when he made his entrance 28 minutes from time.

Virtually his first touch, a sumptuous cross with the outside of his left foot, gave Mayoral an easy task to settle Real’s nerves.

“Bale returned in style because with that cross I just needed to put my head on it,” said Mayoral.

Bale could have sealed the perfect return when he bore down on the goal moments later. His effort was parried by Pol Freixanet, but Mayoral mopped up the rebound for his second of the night.

“People talk a lot about the fact he is injured, but he is a very important player for us,” said Zidane afterwards.

However, Real did not escape unharmed as Alvaro Portilla earned Fuenlabrada a deserved draw on the night late on.

“What should have been a cruise for Madrid...turned into a new start for Bale after a atrocious first-half,” concluded Marca.

Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a driving banker over Draymond Green with 12.6 seconds remaining Monday night to break a tie and lift the Sacramento Kings to a 110-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Sacramento earned their first win in their past nine visits to Oracle Arena and snapped a nine-game road losing streak dating back to the first week of the season.

Pistons 118, Celtics 108

Detroit ended Boston’s eight-game home winning streak in a battle of the teams with the two top records in the Eastern Conference.

Tobias Harris scored 31 points and Andre Drummond posted 26 points, a season-high 22 rebounds and six assists as the Pistons went on a late 13-3 run to put the game away.

Cavaliers 113, 76ers 91

LeBron James collected 30 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as Cleveland beat Philadelphia to win their eighth straight.

Dwyane Wade added 15 points off the bench for the Cavs, who owned a 57-30 advantage in bench points and limited the Sixers to 37.5 per cent shooting, including 3-for-28 3-point accuracy. Cleveland shot 48.2 per cent, including 40.5 per cent (15 of 37) from beyond the arc.

Joel Embiid led Philadelphia, which saw a three-game winning streak end, with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie sensation Ben Simmons was limited to 10 points and eight rebounds before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle.

Rockets 117, Nets 103

James Harden produced another breathlessly efficient scoring performance and Houston rode his hot hand to a victory over Brooklyn.

The Rockets extended their winning streak to five games behind Harden, who scored 37 points on 13-for-20 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and eight assists. He poured in 20 points without a miss in the first quarter as Houston took a 21-point lead they did not relinquish.

Pacers 121, Magic 109

Victor Oladipo scored 26 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 22 as Indiana sent Orlando to their ninth consecutive loss.

The Pacers sank 15 of 26 from three-point range while the Magic were 16 of 41 on three-pointers. Jonathon Simmons scored 21 points to lead six players in doubles figures for Orlando. Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic each had 16 points. Vucevic added a team-high 12 rebounds.

Trail Blazers 103, 

Knicks 91

Damian Lillard had 32 points and Pat Connaughton added 17 as Portland defeated New York.

Kristaps Porzingis returned from a one-game absence and scored 22 points to lead the Knicks, who lost their third consecutive game. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points for New York but shot just 6 of 18 from the field.

Spurs 115,

Mavericks 108

LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year as San Antonio defeated Dallas.

Pau Gasol added a season-high 25 points for the Spurs. San Antonio point guard Tony Parker, who missed the first 19 games of the season because of a quad injury he sustained in the play-offs last season, returned to produce six points and four assists in 15 minutes.

Clippers 120, Lakers 115

Lou Williams scored a season-high 42 points and Blake Griffin added 26 as the Los Angeles Clippers held off the Los Angeles Lakers.

It was the 11th consecutive “home” victory for the Clippers over the Lakers.