NBA Capsules
Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce, right, drives against Los Angeles Clippers’ Lamar Odom in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The Clippers won 106-77. AP
LOS ANGELES — Matt Barnes tied his season high with 21 points off the bench, Chris Paul had 11 assists and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Boston 106-77 on Thursday night, becoming the first team to win 15 consecutive games since the Celtics four years ago.
Fellow reserve Jamal Crawford added 17 points, Blake Griffin had 15 and Caron Butler 14 to help the Clippers improve the NBA’s best record to 23-6.
Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for Boston, which never led in dropping to .500 at 14-14 with its fifth loss in seven games. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green added 12 points each to go with 10 apiece from Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo.
Boston’s winning streak extended to 19 games in 2008-09.
THUNDER 111, MAVERICKS 105, OT
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 40 points while Russell Westbrook added eight of his 16 points in overtime to help the Thunder beat the Mavericks for their 11th straight win at home.
Serge Ibaka added 19 points and matched his season-high with 17 rebounds as Oklahoma City charged back from 10 points down in the final 7:17 of regulation and found a way to win after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Darren Collison scored a season-best 32 points for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored nine points in his second game back after offseason knee surgery, showing some rust down the stretch.
Westbrook turned the game around with six straight points after the Mavs had gone up 104-101 on Chris Kaman’s bucket inside midway through overtime.
