Nigeria Fans: Basketball: Weekly Roundup.

Griffin, Gordon lead Clippers over Suns -- The AP reports: Squirming on the Clippers’ bench for the final 2:52 while the Phoenix Suns sliced a 10-point deficit to one was a gut-wrenching experience for rookie Blake Griffin, who wasn’t able to exhale until Eric Gordon made a game-saving steal in the final minute. Griffin had 28 points and 12 rebounds for his 18th straight double-double before fouling out for the second time this season, and the Clippers nearly blew an 18-point advantage before beating Phoenix 108-103 on Sunday to end a streak of nine straight losses to the Suns... Gordon scored 24 points and Baron Davis added 15 points and nine assists to complement Griffin’s 24th double-double of the season. Newly acquired Mickael Pietrus scored a season-high 25 points for Phoenix. Steve Nash finished with 21 points and 15 assists on “Boxing Day,” which is a national holiday in his native Canada. Grant Hill had 19 points and seven rebounds while guarding Griffin, and even got under his skin on more than one occasion.

Los Angeless Clippers over power Suns.

Beasley’s basket gives Timberwolves 98-97 win -- The AP reports: Michael Beasley was happy with his winning shot. He was happier with his game-saving defensive play. Beasley scored on a driving layup with 5.9 seconds left to give Minnesota a 98-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, snapping the Timberwolves’ losing streak at seven... “It was extra sweet to do it on the defensive end,” said Beasley, who had 28 points. “I forced him into a bad shot and we got the win.” Jamison, who led Cleveland with 24 points, thought he was fouled and said Beasley told him after the play that he had indeed fouled him... Luke Ridnour scored 23 points to help Minnesota improve to 7-24. Love added 16, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and had 18 rebounds for his NBA-leading 26th double-double. Anthony Parker had 21 and Mo Williams added 17 for the Cavaliers. Trailing 62-57 midway through the third quarter, the Cavaliers pulled ahead on a 31-12 run to take an 88-74 lead with 8:07 to play. Jawad Williams hit three 3-pointers and J.J. Hickson scored five points during the run.

Beasley’s basket gives Timberwolves 98-97 win

Boozer leads Bulls past Pistons in overtime -- The AP reports: The Chicago Bulls almost gave away a game Sunday night. In the end, though, the two best players on the floor made the difference. Carlos Boozer had 31 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick Rose added 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 95-92 in overtime... Tayshaun Prince led a balanced Detroit attack with 17 points. Tracy McGrady and Hamilton both finished with 15 as Kuester chose to go with them over starters Villanueva and Ben Gordon for most of the fourth quarter and overtime.

Chigago Bulls

Gay scores 30 points in Grizzlies’ win over Pacers -- The AP reports: The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Indiana Pacers inside and outside. Rudy Gay scored 30 points, Zach Randolph had 18 points and 16 rebounds and the Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 104-90 victory over the Pacers Sunday night... O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol added 17 points each for Memphis. The Grizzlies improved to 5-11 on the road and 13-17 overall... Danny Granger led the Pacers with 29 points and five rebounds. Roy Hibbert had 14 points and Mike Dunleavy added 10 for Indiana (13-15), which missed an opportunity to climb back to .500 and was denied its fourth set of back-to-back victories. The Pacers were coming off a 94-93 home victory over New Orleans on Monday night.

A Pacer Player.

Paul leads Hornets past Hawks -- The AP reports: Chris Paul had just four points as the New Orleans Hornets fell behind the Atlanta Hawks by nine points at halftime... Paul proceeded to score 13 of his 22 points in the third quarter and New Orleans outscored Atlanta 28-16 on its way to a 93-86 victory Sunday night. Paul was 10 of 17 from the field and also had eight assists. “That was just Chris Paul being Chris Paul,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. Hornets forward David West scored 18 points, Emeka Okafor had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Trevor Ariza added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jack had 10 points. Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 23 points, Marvin Williams had 18, Josh Smith added 10 points and 12 rebounds.