Final
Clippers aim to finish home-and-home sweep of Kings
Apr 7, 2012 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Clippers may want to forget about trying to keep pace with the rival Lakers and stay focused on playing cohesive basketball before the playoffs commence later this month.The Clippers have been playing well lately and will shoot for a home-and-home sweep of the Sacramento Kings tonight from Staples Center. They rebounded from Wednesday's loss to the Lakers with a 93-85 victory at Sacramento the following night, as Randy Foye connected on four straight free throws in the final 16.5 seconds to keep the Kings at bay and finished with 20 points.
"Whatever the team needs I'm just trying to give it to them," Foye said. "I'm just trying to be efficient and play hard."
Caron Butler and Blake Griffin each scored 14 points, while Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe added 13 points apiece for Los Angeles, which made 45 percent of its shots and won for the ninth time in the past 13 tries. The Clippers are 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead and sit fourth in the Western Conference standings.
The Clippers are 20-9 as the host and will hit the road for three games Monday against the Grizzlies, Thunder and Timberwolves.
Sacramento closed out a four-game homestand with a 1-3 mark and suffered its seventh loss in the previous nine attempts on Thursday.
Isaiah Thomas paced the Kings with 17 points and Jason Thompson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Kings.
"I thought our guys, for the most part, did a good job," said Sacramento head coach Keith Smart. "We're not that far away. This team is going to get there, they are going to arrive. They keep this spirit they have now, they are going to get there."
Tyreke Evans scored 14 points and DeMarcus Cousins wasn't much of a factor, finishing with eight points and three rebounds in less than 19 minutes. Kings guard Marcus Thornton missed his second straight games with a thigh bruise and is questionable for Saturday. He is averaging 18.7 ppg this season.
The Kings will play four of five games on the road and own a dreadful 5-22 mark as the visitor this season. They have lost five of the last six matchups with the Clippers, and two straight and four of the previous five meetings between the teams in Hollywood.
- SACRAMENTO: 94
LOS ANGELES: 109
Final
Apr 8 1:01 AM - SACRAMENTO: 51
LOS ANGELES: 56
Halftime
Apr 7 11:40 PM - SACRAMENTO: 22
LOS ANGELES: 29
End of 1st
Apr 7 11:08 PM - SACRAMENTO: 0
LOS ANGELES: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Apr 7 10:44 PM
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