By beating the slumping Golden State Warriors 89-82 Thursday night, Los Angeles improved to 3-18 and moved to a half-game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-17) in the unofficial battle to avoid being labeled the "Worst Team in Professional Basketball.''
Throw out a 46-point loss to Portland, and it was actually quite a positive week for the Clippers, who won three of five games after dropping their first 16 to fall one loss short of the Miami Heat's record for the worst start to a season.
The Clippers, who got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Loy Vaught and 22 points from Malik Sealy, never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter.
Latrell Sprewell scored seven of his 27 points in the last 3 1/2 minutes as the Warriors pulled to 81-80 with 1:28 remaining, but Vaught hit a 15-foot (5-meter) jumper 12 seconds later and, after Sprewell made one of two free throws, Sealy made two free throws with eight seconds left for a four-point Clippers' lead.
SuperSonics 114, Trail Blazers 103. Shawn Kemp scored 26 points and Gary Payton had 23 points and nine assists.
Payton was at his best during the third quarter. The Sonics led 68-66 with 4:01 left before he scored seven straight points on an 6-meter jumper, a layup and a 3-pointer. Seattle never got closer than seven points in the fourth quarter.
Cliff Robinson had 26 points and 15 rebounds and Clyde Drexler 26 points for visiting Portland.
Mavericks 122, Celtics 113. At Dallas, Jim Jackson scored 40 points and Jamal Mashburn added 27 as the Mavericks turned in one of their best all-around efforts of the season despite playing without suspended forward Roy Tarpley.
Popeye Jones had a career-high 25 points with 20 rebounds and Jason Kidd had 10 points and 10 assists.
Dominique Wilkins scored 33 points and Sherman Douglas 19 to pace Boston, which has lost seven of nine games.
Lakers 97, Rockets 94. At Houston, the Lakers won their third straight road game and their 10th in 12 games overall.
Cedric Ceballos scored a season-high 36 points and Eddie Jones added 16 points for the Lakers, who held the Rockets to 40 percent shooting.
Houston got rid of most of a 10-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes and had a chance to tie at the end, but Robert Horry missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Nuggets 101, Heat 99. Rodney Rogers hit a game-winning 8-footer (nearly 3-meter shot) with three seconds left as Denver overcame 29 turnovers and a 20-point deficit to win at Miami.
Reggie Williams, activated from the injured list before the game, led Denver with 21 points. Kevin Willis had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who lost for the fifth time in six games.
Jazz 95, Bullets 85. Utah won its sixth straight road game by defeating Washington.
Washington, which has lost four in a row, got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Chris Webber.
Knicks 94, Kings 84. Patrick Ewing had 27 points and 18 rebounds and John Starks had 19 points for New York at Sacramento. Charles Smith added 16 points and Anthony Mason 14 for the Knicks, who played without Charles Oakley because of a dislocated toe, ending his streak of consecutive regular season and playoff games at 323.
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