Rivers Ejected, Clippers Lose To Nets In Double Overtime

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Kilpatrick scored 31 of his career-high 38 points after the third quarter and the Brooklyn Nets stopped a seven-game losing streak with a 127-122 double-overtime victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.

The Clippers started the game without Blake Griffin, ended it without the ejected coach Doc Rivers and dropped their third straight game by blowing an 18-point lead.

Chris Paul had 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, but the best guard on the floor in crunch time was Kilpatrick, who also had a career-best 14 rebounds.

Brook Lopez added 27 points for the Nets.

DeAndre Jordan had 21 points and 23 rebounds for the Clippers, who rested Griffin, their leading scorer.

The Clippers started 39-year-old Paul Pierce, who had played in just two games, in place of Griffin. Pierce had played just 17 minutes all season but logged 29 minutes in this one, such an increase in workload that Paul mimicked giving him CPR on the court at one point.

They Clippers were serious by the end.

Rivers was tossed late in the first OT, becoming enraged and having to be held back by Clippers assistants as he tried to get at referee Ken Mauer. Rivers appeared upset about a call on the other end of the floor, walking out of the coaching box and almost all the way to the Nets bench.

He missed Kilpatrick's masterful finish, which he capped with a three-point play with 13.5 seconds left.

The Nets, still playing without point guard Jeremy Lin, ended a skid that started with a 127-95 loss at the Clippers on Nov. 14.

Los Angeles had lost in Detroit and Indiana in its last two games, managing just 70 points Sunday against the Pacers in its lowest-scoring game in 13 years. Rivers pointed to some defensive lapses as the bigger concern, and they certainly struggled to stay in front of Kilpatrick, who was just 3 for 14 after three quarters.

TIP-INS

Clippers: Rookie Brice Johnson, who has missed all season with a herniated disk in his lower back, did some pregame shooting, but Rivers said he didn't know if the forward was anywhere near returning.

Nets: Coach Kenny Atkinson still couldn't give a timetable on Lin, saying the point guard who missed his 12th straight game with a strained left hamstring was working hard and "progressing as planned."

DOC IS JUST A NICKNAME

The Clippers have increased their spending on biometrics this season, and Rivers — first name Glenn — was asked if he relied on that to determine Griffin would sit.

"I clearly didn't, I'm not smart enough to use biometrics," Rivers said. "But the people we hired did, and they told me biometrically that this would be a good day for him to rest."

UP NEXT

Clippers: Visit Cleveland on Thursday night. The Clippers have lost the last four meetings.

Nets: Host Milwaukee on Thursday night, opening a home-and-home series against former Nets star and coach Jason Kidd's Bucks, who have won the last five meetings.