Teletovic's 22 Leads Suns Past Clippers Reserves, 114-105
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mirza Teletovic scored 22 points to lead seven Phoenix players in double figures and the Suns finished their second-worst season in franchise history Wednesday night with a 114-105 victory over a Los Angeles team made up almost entirely of Clippers bench players.
The loss snapped the Clippers' six-game winning streak. Still, they won 10 of 12 games heading into their first-round playoff series against Portland.
With the No. 4 spot in the West already assured, Los Angeles left Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford home.
Alan Williams, who grew up in Phoenix and wasn't drafted out of Santa Clara last year, added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns in his 10th NBA game.
Wesley Johnson and C.J. Wilcox scored 19 apiece for the Clippers.
Phoenix's Jon Leuer scored 16 points and matched his career best with 14 rebounds.
The Suns, who won three of their last four games, finished the season 23-59, fourth-worst in the NBA this season. Only the team's inaugural season of 1968-69 was worse (16-66).
Phoenix finished the first half on a 9-2 run. The Suns capped the run when Ronnie Price stole the ball from Pablo Prigioni and fed P.J. Tucker for a layup with 37.9 seconds left to give Phoenix a 62-55 lead at the break. The Suns led by as many as 17 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth.
TIP-INS
Clippers: Los Angeles had its fourth straight 50-win season. Before that, the Clippers didn't have even one. ...Clippers are in the playoffs for the fifth straight year, longest stretch in team history. ... Los Angeles' longest winning streak this season was 10 games from Dec. 25 through Jan. 13.
Suns: Suns were 8-24 under Watson. ... Phoenix was without center Tyson Chandler (concussion protocol). ... Archie Goodwin returned after missing the last game with a sprained ankle. ... Mirza Teletovic finished with 179 3-pointers, the most ever for an NBA reserve. The previous record was 164 by Chuck Person in 1994-95.
UP NEXT
Clippers: host Portland in first round of the playoffs, game day yet to be determined.
Suns: End of regular season.
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