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Kevin Durant and Suns spoil LA Clippers Inuit Dome opener with 116-113 overtime victory – NBC Los Angeles
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Kevin Durant and Suns spoil LA Clippers Inuit Dome opener with 116-113 overtime victory – NBC Los Angeles

Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Bradley Beal added 24 and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Clippers 116-113 in overtime Wednesday night, spoiling the Intuit Dome debut in Los Angeles in the opener for both teams.

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

Jusuf Nurkic gave the Suns a three-point lead with a pair of free throws. The Clippers had one last chance to send the ball into extra session, but Grayson Allen forced a turnover at midfield on the inbounds pass.

Ivica Zubac had 21 points for the Clippers, but fouled out with 2:15 remaining 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 as the player who made the first basket at Intuit Dome with his jumper 17 seconds into the game. … LA had a 62-42 edge in points in the paint and outscored the Suns by nine (51-42), but Zubac’s foul trouble in overtime played a big role.

Key moment

The Clippers held a 99-90 lead before the Suns scored 11 straight points to get back on top. Devin Booker had four points during Phoenix’s rally but committed a foul with 1:27 to go. Harden scored four straight points to give LA a 103-101 lead, but Durant tied the score with a 15-footer with 21.2 seconds left.

Key stat

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 made a pair.

Next

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