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Kevin Durant and the Suns spoil the LA Clippers’ opener at the Inuit Dome with a 116-113 overtime win – NBC Los Angeles
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Kevin Durant and the Suns spoil the LA Clippers’ opener at the Inuit Dome with a 116-113 overtime win – NBC Los Angeles

Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Bradley Beal added 24 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Clippers 116-113 in overtime on Wednesday night, spoiling both teams’ debuts at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles in the opening game.

James Harden scored 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers. He had a chance to send the double into overtime, but missed the second of two free throws with 4.8 seconds left.

Jusuf Nurkic gave the Suns a three-point lead with two free throws. The Clippers had one last chance to send it to another overtime, but Grayson Allen forced a turnover near midfield after the inbound pass.

Ivica Zubac had 21 points for the Clippers but was fouled with 2:15 left in overtime.

Takeaways

Suns: Mike Budenholzer picked up the win in his first game as Phoenix coach and improved to 12-9 in his career against the Clippers.

Clippers: Norman Powell will go down in history as the player who made the first basket in the Intuit Dome with his jumper 17 seconds into the game. … LA had a 62-42 point lead and outscored the Suns by nine points (51-42), but Zubac’s foul trouble in overtime played a big role.

Key moment

The Clippers had a 99-90 lead before the Suns scored 11 straight points to regain the lead. Devin Booker had four points during Phoenix’s rally but was fouled with 1:27 left. Harden scored four straight points to give LA a 103-101 lead, but Durant tied it with a 15-footer with 21.2 seconds left.

Key statistics

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 paired up.

Next

The Suns remain in Southern California to face the Lakers on Friday night, while the Clippers travel to Denver on Saturday.

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