NBA Wrap: Hot-shooting Clippers top Rockets

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LOS ANGELES -- J.J. Redick scored 19 of his 26 points in the first half to lead seven players in double figures, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Houston 137-118 Monday night, handing the Rockets their first loss of the season in Dwight Howard's return to Staples Center.

Chris Paul added 23 points and 17 assists, Jamal Crawford had 21 points, and Blake Griffin scored 18 for the Clippers, who led the entire game and tied a franchise record with 78 points in the first half.

Howard finished with 13 points and nine rebounds after getting roundly booed in his first game in Los Angeles since leaving the Lakers and signing with Houston in the NBA's biggest free agent move last summer (see full recap).

Cavs deal Timberwolves first loss
CLEVELAND -- C.J. Miles scored 19 points, Kyrie Irving added 15 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off a late rally for a 93-92 victory over Minnesota on Monday night, handing the Timberwolves their first loss of the season.

The Timberwolves nearly erased a 23-point deficit midway through the third quarter to stay unbeaten.

Cleveland led 93-84, but was scoreless over the final 2:43. Kevin Love's basket with 38 seconds remaining cut the lead to one point. Following a miss by Irving with 15 seconds left, the Timberwolves called timeout to set up the last shot. Love, the NBA's leading scorer, missed a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining and the ball was tipped away as time ran out.

Kevin Martin led the Timberwolves with 23 points. Love added 17 points and 13 rebounds (see full recap).

Grizzlies keep Celtics winless
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Jerryd Bayless keyed a fourth-quarter rally, scoring all of his 15 points in the period to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 95-88 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

Bayless was 6 of 7 in the quarter to help Memphis erase a six-point Boston lead with just under 9 minutes to play.

Zach Randolph and Mike Conley also had 15 for Memphis, Conley handing out eight assists. Marc Gasol finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.

Jeff Green led the Celtics with 22 points, while Jared Sullinger scored 16, going 2 of 3 from outside the arc. Avery Bradley scored 14 and Jordan Crawford finished with 12.

The Celtics fell to 0-4 under rookie coach Brad Stevens (see full recap).

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