Raptors dethrone Kings, move to 11-1
▶ Philadelphia notch 1st road win
Kawhi Leonard returned to the lineup to score 25 points as the Toronto Raptors improved their league-best record to 11-1 with a 114-105 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Leonard, who missed the last two games with a sore ankle, also added 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have won five straight since losing to Milwaukee on October 29.
Pascal Siakam scored 21 points, Serge Ibaka had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Kyle Lowry added 16 points and eight assists for the Raptors.
Leonard started slowly but then found his form. The two-time All-Star scored 10 points in the second quarter and 10 in the third. He made a clutch threepointer in the fourth after Sacramento had taken a seven-point lead (106-99).
Willie Cauley-Stein and Buddy Hield scored 24 points apiece for Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox added 20 points, and second overall draft pick Marvin Bagley had 13.
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers won their first road game of the season with a 100-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Ben Simmons flirted with a tripledouble, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the 76ers, who were 6-0 at home and 0-5 on the road coming into Wednesday’s contest.
Philadelphia had lost all their away games by an average of 15.2 points. They had also lost eight consecutive contests in Indiana dating back to 2013.
Victor Oladipo scored a season-high 36 points for the Pacers.
In Miami, Hassan Whiteside scored 29 points, pulled down 20 rebounds and blocked nine shots to propel the Miami Heat to their first victory over the San Antonio Spurs since 2014.
Whiteside carried the load in a 95-88 Heat win, as Miami made do without veteran star Dwyane Wade who was absent for what the team called personal reasons.
LeBron James scored 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 114-110 at Staples Center.