LOS ANGELES — Jamal Crawford led a dominant performance by the reserves with 22 points and the Clippers defeated the Nuggets 112-100 last night, extending their franchise-record winning streak to 14 games.
Matt Barnes added 20 points — one off his season high — as the bench outscored the Clippers starters 64-48 in claiming the NBA’s best record at 22-6, one win better than Oklahoma City which lost to Miami earlier yesterday.
Kosta Koufos and Jordan Hamilton scored 16 points each for Denver in the finale of a Christmas Day doubleheader at Staples Center. The Lakers, who play the Nuggets tonight in Denver, beat the Knicks 100-94 in the first game.
Ty Lawson added 15 points for the Nuggets, who fell to 7-13 on the road, where 22 of their first 32 games are being played.
Rockets 120, Bulls 97
In Chicago, James Harden scored 26 points and Jeremy Lin added 20 points and 11 assists to lead the Rockets to a victory over the Bulls.
Omer Asik returned to the United Center and had a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds in his first trip back to Chicago since signing with the Rockets in the offseason.
The Rockets starters all scored in double figures. Chandler Parsons added 23 points and Marcus Morris had 10.
Houston has won six of seven.