Spurs beat Warriors in star-less display
Los Angeles, March 12: Patty Mills scored 21 points as the San Antonio Spurs dominated the Golden State Warriors 107-85 on Saturday in a NBA showdown that lacked in star power.
Mills scored all his points in the first half for the Spurs, whose 20-point halftime lead allowed them to cruise through the second half at the San Antonio AT&T Center arena.
The victory moved San Antonio to within a halfgame of Golden State for the top record in the league and the Western Conference.
Both teams were missing their star players, either by plan or by injury.
Golden State rested Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson, while Kevin Durant is still out with a knee injury. San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard (concussion), LaMarcus Aldridge (minor heart arrhythmia), Tony Parker (back stiffness) and DeJounte Murray (left groin tightness) did not dress.
The victory was San Antonio’s second of the season against Golden State and gives the Spurs the edge if a tiebreaker is needed.
Cavs arrest slide
LeBron James recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Orlando Magic 116-104 to end a three game losing skid.
The Magic tied the game once in the third quarter but that was as close as they would get as Cleveland never trailed in the second half. Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 20 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Evan Fournier scored 15 points. Aaron Gordon had 16 points and Terrence Ross finished with 11 points.
Westbrook puts in decisive shift
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook moved past Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most triple doubles in an NBA season on Saturday in the Thunder’s 112-104 win over visiting Utah.
Westbrook collected his 32nd triple double of the 2016-17 campaign with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists — his third triple double against the Jazz this season.
That’s the most NBA games with double-digit totals in three or more statistical categories in more than half a century.
To match the NBA record, Westbrook has 16 games remaining this season to manage nine more tripledoubles and equal the alltime mark of 41 set by Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 campaign. In Los Angeles, Chris Paul scored a season-high 30 points and DeAndre Jordan added 19 points and 20 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated Philadelphia 112100.