Sports

AMMAN — Run Jordan, the sole entity dedicated to bringing together different marathon events and races in Jordan under one umbrella, will have a busy season in its 2016 calendar dedicated to spreading awareness regarding the benefits of running in having a healthy lifestyle.

Lina El-Kurd, general manager of Run Jordan, told The Jordan Times that the year 2015 was a success.

“We are looking forward to repeating the success we had in earlier years and develop this sport to a higher level based on the directions of HH Prince Firas, the chairman of the board of Run Jordan,” she said.

“Our focus will be on giving more time to runners to prepare for this season which will start in April with the annual Dead Sea Ultra Marathon which will celebrate its 23rd season and will have the 50km ultra-marathon, 21km half marathon and 10km fun run, in addition to the Children’s Race that is scheduled on April 1,” she added.

Meanwhile, the popular Samsung Amman Marathon is scheduled to be held on October 28th 2016, and will include a 42km marathon, a 21km half marathon and a 10km fun run, in addition to the Children’s Race that is scheduled on October 21. 

“And the end of the season will be celebrated with the Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon scheduled on December 9 and will consist of three categories: 21km, 10km fun run and 4.2km Children’s Race with all the routes run along the beautiful shore of the Red Sea; this race usually gives participants a chance to visit Aqaba and enjoy its fair weather during December,” she said.

Run Jordan adopted a plan to include governorates in its annual strategy in order to spread the word about healthy living.

 “In addition to our annual races, we are strongly moving ahead to various governorates in the Kingdom to spread the 5km and 10km races, in addition to our other programmes, including the Junior Programme, Jordan Runners Programme and the Elite Runners Programme to spread the culture of sports and running among our society and to educate them of the various benefits sports can provide,” she said. 

“Our Moto “Run for a Cause” continues to be a major motivator to create effective partnerships with NGOs and other organisations as we share the common goal of giving back to our society,” she stated.

Last year, Run Jordan established agreements with two major NGO’s in the city of Aqaba namely: The Friends of Autism Society, which helps to support autistic children and their families in the southern region of the Kingdom; and the Bride of the South Orphan Society, which offers counselling and educational support for orphans.

In April 2015, Run Jordan organised the 1st Irbid Marathon which witnessed the participation of thousands of runners.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 59 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 116-108 victory over the Houston Rockets at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday.

Durant scored 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and had 12 rebounds and three assists. Westbrook picked up his sixth triple-double of the season with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

Centre Enes Kanter came off the bench to contribute 22 points and 10 rebounds as Oklahoma City improved to 36-13.

Guard James Harden led the Rockets with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Forward Corey Brewer added 17 points as Houston dropped to 25-24.

With 6:17 left in the fourth quarter, Thunder forward Kyle Singler completed a three-point play to give Oklahoma City a nine-point advantage. Harden answered with his own three-point play to close gap to 101-95.

Kanter began to take over for the Thunder in the paint. He scored four quick points as Oklahoma City went up by 11. Durant then drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to stretch the lead to 112-98 with 3:25 left.

However, Rockets guard Patrick Beverly knocked down a three-pointer to slash deficit to 11. Centre Clint Capela hit one of two from the line and Brewer came up with a fast-break dunk as Houston closed to eight with 1:36 left.

Westbrook was fouled and missed both free throws. Harden made the Thunder pay by hitting two of his own as the Rockets trailed 112-106 with 1:20 left.

Thunder guard Dion Waiters scored, but Durant fouled Harden on a three-point attempt at the other end. Harden made two of the three foul shots and lead was back to six.

A layup by Kanter pushed the advantage to eight. Harden tried to answer but dribbled away precious seconds before missing a jumper to close out the game.

Surging Celtics

The surging Boston Celtics used balanced scoring to cruise to their fifth straight win with a 113-94 victory over the sagging Orlando Magic on Friday.

The Celtics (27-21) had seven players score in double figures while sending the Magic to their eighth straight loss and 12th in their last 13 games in the opener of a home-and-home series that shifts to Orlando on Sunday.

Boston blew open a fairly close game by going on a 22-4 tear that ended with a 15-0 run in the first five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

Guard Marcus Smart and forward Kelly Olynyk, both coming off the bench, led the scoring with 16 points apiece.

Forward Jae Crowder scored 15 points, newly named All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas had 14 points and 11 assists, and guard Evan Turner added 15 points and eight assists.

Reserve forward Jonas Jerebko had a season-high 13 points and 10 rebounds and forward Jared Sullinger contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds, as the Celtics reached the 100-point mark for an 11th straight game.

Big man Nikola Vucevich led six Magic players in double figures with 14 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds as his streak of double-doubles ended at six games.

Forward Aaron Gordon had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Magic (20-25).

The Celtics showed a video tribute during a first-quarter timeout saluting Thomas making the All-Star team.

Thomas, who had just scored his first basket of the game, then had a hand in 10 straight points, scoring four and contributing three assists.

Boston used the Thomas-led 8-0 run to take a five-point lead that grew to eight in the quarter and the advantage reached double figures in the first three minutes of the second.

The Celtics took a 13-point lead with 3:56 left in the half but led by eight at the break. Thomas ended the half with an end-to-end dash and layup with 1.1 seconds left.

Jerebko, averaging 3.6 points per game coming in, scored eight straight Boston points in the second quarter.

Turner ended the third quarter with a buzzer-beating floater that made it 86-77.

Olynyk then scored nine points in the first 3:19 of the fourth quarter and the lead was 16. It quickly grew to 27.

AMMAN  — All clubs are in high gear as they prepare for the resumption of the local agendas and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions.

With players on national team duty away last week, this will be the final week for all clubs to train with all players available, including newly signed pros with many clubs.

The country’s leading players are back with their clubs after Jordan beat Egypt 1-0 in a friendly in preparation for qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup resuming March 24. Jordan’s U-23 national squad was also on duty in Qatar where it was ousted from the AFC U-23 Championship quarter-finals.

Back home, coaches have been trying to keep line-ups ready as clubs signed new players with the Jordan Professional League’s Leg 2 kicking off on February 4 preceded by the Jordan Cup semis.

In the past two weeks, Wihdat lost to Hussein Irbid 2-1 and held Ahli 0-0 as the team signed two pros from Brazil. The reigning league champs were inconsistent in Leg 1 of the competition and were also eliminated from the Jordan Cup. As they start the countdown to the 2016 AFC Asian Champions League (ACL), Wihdat’s coaches are hopeful ahead of their February 9 preliminary round match against Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah.

“We have spared no effort to put the team back on track. We aim to compete for advanced position in the local and Asian competitions,” coach Hisham Abdul Mun’em told the press after practice.

As league champs for the past two consecutive years, Wihdat were Jordan’s representative in the premier Asian competition in 2015 as well, and were knocked out in the preliminary round by former titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh. 

Faisali, who lead the league standings after finishing 7th last year, are in high spirits and are striving to restart matches with a strong line-up. While they missed players on national duty, Faisali also played local friendlies and lost 1-0 to Shabab Urdun.

In addition to their battle for the league title, Faisali and Wihdat will represent the Kingdom in the AFC Cup this season. Matches are scheduled to kick off on February 23. If Wihdat advance past the ACL preliminary round, Jazira will replace them in the AFC Cup.

Faisali signed Khalil Bani Atiya and Moayyad Abu Kishk and lost their Senegalese top scorer who moved to the UAE. Ahli signed former Ramtha star and top scorer Rakan Khalidi, while Baqa’a who were a team in the upper half of the standings contracted Iraqi coach Tha’er Jassam hoping to change their fortunes in Leg 1. 

So far this season, Jordan Cup holders Faisali beat league titleholders Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Wihdat only have the league title in contention after conceding the Super Cup, and elimination from the Jordan Cup as well where Cup titleholders Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun will vie for the title.

OAKLAND, California — Golden State’s Klay Thompson scored a season-high 45 points as the Warriors avenged one of their rare losses this season by beating Dallas 127-107 on Wednesday.

The Mavericks comfortably defeated the Warriors on December 30, 2015, for one of only four defeats Golden State have suffered, but were a long way off the NBA pacesetters in this latest encounter.

The Warriors stayed three games clear atop the league and Western Conference standings ahead of San Antonio, who beat Houston to extend their home winning streak to 34 games.

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Clippers took a close contest at Atlanta, and Oklahoma City needed two key late baskets from Kevin Durant to edge Minnesota in a high-scoring shootout.

Golden State’s Thompson had his second 40-point game of the season and sixth of his career, shooting 14 of 20, 7 for 12 on three-pointers and making all 10 of his free throws.

Warriors star Stephen Curry had a very quiet first half but hit three quick three-pointers early in the third quarter. He finished with a modest 14 points.

Chandler Parsons scored 23 points for Dallas.

San Antonio suffered a 30-point defeat to Golden State in their previous game, but rediscovered their best form at home to beat Houston 130-99.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who was poor against the Warriors, had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who are 25-0 at home this season after winning their last nine there in 2014-15.

James Harden had 20 points for the Rockets, who suffered their heaviest defeat of the season.

The Clippers just held off a mistake-prone Atlanta to win 85-83.

The Hawks turned it over a season-worst 23 times but still had a chance to force overtime when they got the ball back with 6.7 seconds left. The inbound pass went to Paul Millsap, who drove and got a good look at the basket but came up short on a running one-hander.

Jamal Crawford had 21 points and DeAndre Jordan scored 13 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Clippers, who again won in the absence of Blake Griffin, who will miss up to six weeks after breaking a hand when punching a staff member.

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 16 points.

Oklahoma City’s Durant had 27 points, and hit two huge shots in the final two minutes to give the Thunder a 126-123 win against Minnesota.

Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who completed a four-game road trip 3-1.

Zach LaVine scored 35 points on 14-for-17 shooting for the Timberwolves, who rued ten missed free throws.

Cleveland stormed away in the second half to beat Phoenix 115-93 to hand the Suns a 17th loss in 19 games.

Boston made it four wins in succession by defeating Denver 111-103, with Avery Bradley matching his season high with 27 points.

Utah avenged a double-overtime loss to Charlotte last week by cruising past the Hornets 102-73.

Detroit’s Andre Drummond had 25 points and 18 rebounds to help the Pistons rally and beat Philadelphia 110-97.

AMMAN — Jordan beat Egypt 1-0 on Wednesday in a friendly as Jordan refocuses on qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup resuming in March.

Despite the fact that Jordan’s upcoming qualifiers against Bangladesh, and Australia are still two months away, Jordan’s coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh said the match and regrouping was important to help finalise the squad.

PHILADELPHIA — Ish Smith had 20 points and nine assists and Robert Covington scored 19 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-103 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

Once 1-30 on December 23 and challenging for the worst record in NBA history, the Sixers have since gone 6-9 and might not even end up with the worst record in the league.

Nik Stauskas scored 15 points and Nerlens Noel had 14 for the Sixers.

Archie Goodwin nearly pulled off an improbable win in the fourth with some late clutch shots that rallied the Suns. Goodwin led the Suns with 26 points. Alex Len had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Raptors 106, Wizards 89

All-Star starter Kyle Lowry put up 29 points before leaving with an injury in the final minutes and Toronto downed Washington for their ninth straight win, matching a franchise-best mark.

Lowry left and went up the tunnel towards the Raptors locker room with what appeared to be an injured hand with just under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. He briefly returned before trainers escorted him back under the stands.

Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, while DeMar DeRozan had 17 points and Terrence Ross added 15 points off the bench.

John Wall led the way for the Wizards with 18 points and 14 assists.

Thunder 128, Knicks 122, OT

Kevin Durant scored a season-high 44 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Oklahoma City beat New York in overtime.

Durant hit the tying jumper with 16.2 seconds left in regulation, then scored seven points in overtime to surpass the 43 points he had against Orlando on October 30, a game that went to two overtimes.

One was all the Thunder needed this time, as Durant hit four straight free throws in the final half-minute to finish 16 for 18 from the line.

Russell Westbrook finished with 30 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who bounced back from a loss to Brooklyn on Sunday to win for the eighth time in nine games.

Langston Galloway scored 21 points for the Knicks, who played without injured leading scorer Carmelo Anthony.

Clippers 91, Pacers 89

Chris Paul scored 26 points and J.J. Redick added 19 as Los Angeles held off a late Indiana comeback.

The Clippers played without All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who was sent home after breaking his shooting hand in a scuffle with equipment manager Matias Testi.

Indiana lost their third straight despite having Paul George finish with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Myles Turner had 16 points.

Los Angeles turned the game with a 13-0 run that gave the Clippers an 81-72 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Pacers were held scoreless for nearly eight minutes.

Indiana got back into the game with a 14-7 run, closed to 91-89 on George’s three-pointer with 28 seconds left, and had a chance to tie or win after forcing a turnover with 2.1 seconds to go. But the Pacers didn’t get the shot off.

Heat 102, Nets 98

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each scored 27 points, leading Miami over Brooklyn.

Wade also had eight assists and four rebounds. Justise Winslow added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Heat.

Andrea Bargnani had 20 points and Joe Johnson had 15 for the Nets.

The Heat led 99-96 when Wayne Ellington missed a three-point shot that would’ve tied it. Bosh then hit one of two foul shots and the Heat held on.

Bucks 107, Magic 100

Giannis Antetokounmpo dunked eight times and scored 25 points as Milwaukee, with coach Jason Kidd back on the bench, sent Orlando to its seventh straight loss.

Kidd missed 17 games after having surgery on his right hip December 21. In his return, he spent a lot of time walking along the sideline as Milwaukee rallied from a 16-point deficit.

Jerryd Bayless had a pair of three-pointers in the final 2:20, including a baseline shot with 13 seconds to go that put Milwaukee ahead 103-99. Khris Middleton, who had 25 points, made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left for a 105-100 lead.

The Bucks have won four of six. Orlando has lost 11 of 12.

Trail Blazers 112, Kings 97

C.J. McCollum scored 18 points, Damian Lillard had 15 points and 12 assists and Portland shut down red-hot DeMarcus Cousins in the Trail Blazers win over the Kings.

Portland had seven players score in double figures. Gerald Henderson scored 15 points, while Mason Plumlee had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers.

Cousins, who came into Tuesday off 56 and 48-point performances in his past two games, led the Kings with 17 points, but hit only 4 of 21 shots. Cousins also struggled at the free throw line, making 9 of 17.

Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 11 assists for the Kings, who lost in double overtime on Monday night.

Mavericks 92, Lakers 90

Dirk Nowitzki hit the tiebreaking jumper with 2.1 seconds to play, and the Mavericks hung on for a victory over the Lakers.

Nowitzki scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks snapped a two-game skid with their 10th consecutive victory over the Lakers.

Julius Randle missed a long jumper at the buzzer for the Lakers, who have lost seven straight.

Nowitzki nailed his go-ahead shot while falling towards the Lakers’ bench, where he got a pat on the back from Kobe Bryant, who sat out to rest his sore right shoulder.

J.J. Barea led the Mavericks with 18 points, and Chandler Parsons had 17.

Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points for the Lakers and Randle had 16.

LONDON — Formula One drivers are calling for a new safety device to be installed in their cockpits from 2017, hoping the so-called “halo” will prevent the lethal threat posed by flying debris.

Grand Prix Drivers’ Association Chairman Alexander Wurz said that his members wanted “swift implementation” of the design initially suggested by Mercedes — a bar attached to the car that curves around the driver’s head and is supported in front by an upright strut.

Formula One has been testing various ways of improving head protection, weighing up the pros and cons of the halo compared with completely closed canopies, an option that some people fear could trap the driver in the event of a crash.

The halo is designed to be removed quickly in such cases. Its backers say it does not significantly obstruct the line of sight.

“The research the FIA experts have done is very thorough and the process has brought forward a clear solution,” said the Austrian, who retired as a driver last year and now works on safety with the sport’s governing body.

“Now the drivers feel it’s time to implement the extra protection at the latest in 2017,” he told the BBC.

Improving head protection became a priority after the deaths last year of Briton Justin Wilson, a former F1 racer who suffered head injuries from debris in an IndyCar crash, and Frenchman Jules Bianchi.

Bianchi, Formula One’s first driver fatality in 21 years, died in July, nine months after suffering severe head injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, when his car skidded off and hit a recovery tractor.

In 2009, Brazilian Felipe Massa suffered near-fatal injuries when hit on the helmet by a bouncing spring during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari. He recovered and now races for Williams.

Wurz said that backing from the drivers should make the introduction of the halo “a formality”.

“Obviously structural changes are required to the chassis but, with almost a one-year lead time, I don’t see any technical person speaking against such substantial safety improvements, especially given the last big accidents in open-wheel racing involved head injuries,” he said.

FIA Safety Director Laurent Mekies told reporters last October that a head protection device could be introduced in 2017 if tests produced satisfactory results.

Team technical directors are due to have a regular meeting with the FIA on Friday to discuss changes for the 2017 season and beyond.

OAKLAND, California — Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored 37 points and hit six three-pointers in three quarters as the reigning champion Warriors showed they still rule the NBA’s Western Conference by beating nearest rival San Antonio 120-90, on Monday.

The Spurs were chasing a win that would have left the conference’s top teams only one game apart, but were never in the contest against a Warriors team that has now won 39 consecutive home games.

San Antonio are still a yawning twelve-and-a-half games clear atop the Southwest Division ahead of Memphis, who won in overtime against struggling Orlando.

Elsewhere, Miami rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Chicago, and Cleveland took their first win under new coach Tyronn Lue by beating Minnesota.

Golden State’s Curry had 15 points in the opening quarter and shot 12 for 20 as he recorded a personal best points total against San Antonio.

Kawhi Leonard scored 16 for the sloppy Spurs, who had won their previous 13 games. The teams that went into the contest with a combined win-loss record of 78-10, which was the highest combined winning percentage of any NBA game at least 40 matches into a regular season.

Chicago came from eight points down in the fourth quarter to win 89-84 at Chicago.

Dwyane Wade had 28 points, including 10 in the fourth, and Chris Bosh added 18. The pair combined for the last five points of the game after the scores were tied with 1:02 left.

Pau Gasol had 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Bulls, who were without Derrick Rose for the second half due to back and hamstring issues. Chicago have lost three successive home games.

Memphis’ Jeff Green scored a season-high 30 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 108-102 overtime win against Orlando.

Memphis trailed by four points late, but Green took over for Memphis. He scored on a dunk, stole the ball on the next Orlando possession and converted a shot from 3.3m to tie it at the end of regulation.

Zach Randolph finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies.

Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier scored 16 apiece for the Magic, who have lost 10 of 11.

Cleveland struggled against Minnesota before a spurt late in the third and early in the fourth that set up a 114-107 win.

LeBron James scored 25 points and Tristan Thompson had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who gave Lue his first win after defeat in his coaching debut.

Karl Anthony-Towns led Minnesota with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Pint-sized point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 23 points in three quarters, and five other players finished in double figures as Boston defeated Washington 116-91.

Thomas was sinking shots from all over the floor as the Celtics won their third straight. He added nine assists and did it all before coach Brad Stevens held him out when the game became lopsided.

John Wall had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting for Washington.

Atlanta completed a four-game Western Conference road trip with a 119-105 win at Denver, with Paul Millsap scoring 22 points.

Detroit’s Reggie Jackson scored 29 points as the Pistons led from go to whoa in beating Utah 95-92.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins set a team record with 56 points — the most by an NBA player this season — but it was not enough to prevent the Kings losing 129-128 to Charlotte, as Troy Daniels hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 9 seconds left.

Houston’s James Harden scored 35 points and Trevor Ariza added a season-high 31, and the Rockets needed all of it to edge undermanned New Orleans 112-111.

AMMAN  — Jordan plays Egypt on Wednesday in a friendly as Jordan refocuses on qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup resuming in March.

Despite the fact that Jordan’s upcoming qualifiers against Bangladesh and Australia are still two months away, Jordan’s coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh said the match and regrouping was important to help finalise the squad which will play without pros abroad while some were on the injury list and U-23 players just returned from the AFC U-23 Championship quarter-finals will miss the first week of the camp.

“The result will not be our major concern, but rather giving newly recalled players a chance while having a choice of the best to represent the squad on the long-run,” Abu Zam’eh noted as the former national team star seeks to take his team beyond the qualifying stage.

Jordan is now second in Group B behind Australia after it lost 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan following two wins over AFC champs Australia 2-0 and Tajikistan 3-0. In the first leg, Jordan was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan, beat Tajikistan 3-1 and Bangladesh 4-0. The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup. 

Jordan is now 86th in FIFA World Rankings. The Kingdom last beat Malta 2-0 in a friendly and will play the last two qualifiers against Bangladesh at home on March 24, and Australia in an away match on March 29 in what has been an inconsistent year for the squad which has had three coaches leading the vital qualifying process. Jordan was led by Briton Ray Wilkins under whom the team failed to advance past the group stage of the 16th Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in 2015 before Ahmad Abdul Qader took over in the transitional phase under whom the team played the first qualifier. Belgian Paul Put took over in July and his contract was recently suspended after he was convicted of match fixing in the Belgian League.

Toronto had 51 points from their reserve players and the Los Angeles Clippers had 29 from theirs as the Raptors scored a 112-94 win on Sunday to extend their streak to eight games.

Kyle Lowry had 21 points and six assists for the Raptors (29-15), who are riding the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. They won nine in a row in 2002.

“I thought that second unit got their togetherness and their rhythm and their chemistry going where we’re going to need as we go down the road,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers pointed the finger at his bench players.

“It’s rare when you lose by 18 points and your starters all have a plus,” he said. “That doesn’t happen very often. The bench has been good, but tonight they were awful.”

Toronto took a 16-point lead in the third quarter and the Clippers trimmed it to four before the Raptors extended the margin to 22 points during the fourth.

“The starters came back in and cut it to four, we subbed out and it went back to 20, so it was just one of those nights,” Rivers said.

The Clippers (28-16) struggled at the free-throw line, going 18-for-30.

The Raptors, who were 18-for-26 from the line, had seven players score in double figures.

Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and eight rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points for the Raptors, ending his string of three consecutive games with 30 or more points.

Terrence Ross contributed 18 points, Cory Joseph added 12, Patrick Patterson had 10 and reserve centre Bismack Biyombo finished with 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

DeRozan gave credit to the contribution from the reserves.

“It was big,” he said. “This whole week and a half, the bench has been great for us, honestly. We have taken advantage of it, and that’s been great with the balance that we’ve been able to sustain throughout these past couple of games.”

Chris Paul scored 23 points and distributed 11 assists for the Clippers. J.J. Redick added 17 points, and DeAndre Jordan scored 15 and grabbed 13 rebounds.

“Turnovers and then we couldn’t stop them from scoring,” said Clippers reserve forward Jamal Crawford, who had three points in 19 minutes.

“That falls on us. It’s nothing that the coaching staff did. The first unit did their job. That’s the second unit, we’ve got to be better.”

The Clippers lost for only the third time in the past 15 games, but those defeats came in the past five games. They are 11-3 without injured forward Blake Griffin.

Los Angeles had an 8-0 run in the first quarter and opened a 13-point lead before ending the quarter with a 34-27 advantage.

“We gave up 34 in the first quarter and I thought it was going to be a long night,” Casey said. “The second unit came in, Terrence [Ross] and that group changed the game, started getting into bodies and getting into players, being physical.”

The Raptors scored the first seven points of the second quarter to tie the game. Toronto ran off 10 more points in a row to lead 44-35. Lowry’s three-pointer had the Raptors ahead 54-40. Toronto were in front 62-49 at halftime and had 32 points off the bench.

“It’s tough,” Paul said. “To get off to the start we got off to and to let those guys back into the game, we just never recovered.

It’s not about the first unit or the second unit, it’s about our team. There have been nights when the starters have come out and haven’t played well and the second unit has brought us back.”

After the Raptors led by 16 points early in the third quarter, the Clippers reduced their deficit to six points on a three-pointer by forward Paul Pierce. Jordan followed with a layup to cut the deficit to four. DeRozan’s three-pointer closed the third quarter and gave Toronto an 83-71 lead.

Ross hit a three-pointer with 8:37 left in the game to put the Raptors into an 18-point lead. A hook shot from Valanciunas bumped the lead to 20.

“Moving the ball on the offensive side and getting a couple of stops on the defensive end,” Patterson said. “All of us just communicating on the defensive side, and I think tonight was probably one of our best games collectively as a second unit.”