INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — James Harden had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Norman Powell added 24 points and the Los Angeles Clippers barely hung on to beat the Toronto Raptors 105-103 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.
Ivica Zubac had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won three straight at Intuit Dome after starting 0-4 in their lavish new home.
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) shoots over Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) is defended by Toronto Raptors forward Jonathan Mogbo (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann grabs a rebound in front of Toronto Raptors guard RJ Barrett (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) celebrates as he dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Ochai Agbaji and Immanuel Quickley scored 21 points apiece for the Raptors, who have lost three straight and seven of eight.
After Quickley hit a tying 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, Powell and Harden combined to miss three of six free throws to leave the door open for Toronto. But Quickley and RJ Barrett both missed tough short shots under defensive pressure before Jakob Poeltl missed a putback attempt with 4.1 seconds left.
Kawhi Leonard still hasn't played this season while rehabilitating his right knee and won't travel on the Clippers' upcoming three-game trip, coach Tyronn Lue said.
Raptors: Quickley was outstanding in the fourth quarter of his first appearance since missing eight games with a pelvic bruise.
Clippers: LA showed resilience in its third set of back-to-back games already this season after winning in Sacramento on Friday.
Toronto was down three when Poeltl made his first free throw and intentionally missed his second, getting the ball to rebound right back to him. But he missed his 9-foot putback, and Harden threw the ball down the floor.
Kevin Porter Jr. had 15 points in his highest-scoring performance since returning to the NBA this fall after spending a year out of the league following a domestic violence assault charge in September 2023. He averaged 19.3 points per game for Houston in 2022-23.
The Clippers visit the Thunder on Monday, and the Raptors stay in LA to face the Lakers on Sunday.
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) shoots over Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) is defended by Toronto Raptors forward Jonathan Mogbo (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann grabs a rebound in front of Toronto Raptors guard RJ Barrett (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) celebrates as he dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
LONDON (AP) — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of Earth.
Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another’s company and transfixed by the globe’s ever-changing vistas.
“To look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself," said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station's live camera. "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves.”
She said the novel “is not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change."
She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks "for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life."
“All the people who speak for and call for and work for peace — this is for you,” she said.
Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called “Orbital” a “miraculous novel” that “makes our world strange and new for us.”
Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that “in a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history,” the winning book was “hopeful, timely and timeless.”
Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel.
De Waal praised the “crystalline” writing and “capaciousness” of Harvey’s succinct novel — at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners.
“This is a book that repays slow reading,” he said.
He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers.
American writer Percival Everett had been the bookies’ favorite to win with “James,” which reimagines Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the point of view of its main Black character, the enslaved man Jim.
The other finalists were American writer Rachel Kushner’s spy story “Creation Lake”; Canadian Anne Michaels’ poetic novel “Held”; Charlotte Wood’s Australian saga “Stone Yard Devotional”; and “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted for the Booker.
Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year’s shortlist, the largest number in the prize’s 55-year history. De Waal said issues such as the gender or nationality of the authors were “background noise” that did not influence the judges.
“There was absolutely no question of box ticking or of agendas or of anything else. It was simply about the novel,” he said before the awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London.
Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the U.K. or Ireland. Last year’s winner was Irish writer Paul Lynch for post-democratic dystopia “Prophet Song.”
Lynch handed Harvey her Booker trophy at the ceremony, warning her that her life was about to change dramatically because of the Booker publicity boost.
Harvey said she was “overwhelmed," but remained down-to-earth about spending her prize money.
She said she'd disburse “some of it on tax. I want to buy a new bike. And then the rest — I want to go to Japan.”
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
From left, Yael van der Wouden, Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels, Britain's Queen Camilla, Charlotte Wood, Percival Everett, and Samantha Harvey pose during a reception for the Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House, London, Tuesday Nov. 12, 2024. (Aaron Chown, Pool Photo via AP)
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book "Orbital" after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey speaks on stage after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey gives a speech after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey speaks on stage after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Sara Pascoe arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Yael Van Der Wouden arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charlotte Wood arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Sebastian Thiel arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Adjoa Andoh arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Percival Everett arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Rachel Kushner arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Lenny Henry, left, arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Yael Van Der Wouden arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Rachel Kushner arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charlotte Wood arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The Booker Prize award prior to the dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The Booker Prize award prior to the dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Val McDermid arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Katy Hessel arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Percival Everett arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Yiyun Li arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Sara Pascoe arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Brett Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Brett Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Paterson Joseph arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
David Olusoga arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Adjoa Andoh arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. The Booker Prize is awarded to the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland, in the opinion of the judges. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Samantha Harvey arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
