SPURS SHAME CAVS
San Antonio Spurs bank on Kawhi Leonard, who scored a career-high 41 points to beat Cleveland in overtime
Kawhi Leonard scored a career-high 41 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-115 in overtime Saturday night in Cleveland despite missing starters Tony Parker and Pau Gasol.
Leonard scored six in OT, including a game-sealing dunk with 4.9 seconds left, as the Spurs regrouped after a late collapse in regulation.
David Lee, making a rare start in place of the injured Gasol, added 14 points as San Antonio improved to 18-4 on the road.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving scored 29 apiece for the Cavs, who had the last shot in regulation and had plenty of opportunities in the extra five minutes. Cleveland still had a chance to tie it in the final second of overtime, but Kevin Love missed a 3-pointer.
In Chicago, Dwyane Wade had 30 points and two key steals in the final minute, Jimmy Butler added 23 points and the Chicago Bulls overcame a 42-point performance by DeMarcus Cousins for a victory over the Sacramento Kings, 102-99.
Wade, who had 13 points in the fourth quarter, snapped a 99-all tie by making a free throw with 14 seconds left. He had missed a breakaway dunk after making a steal, but Cousins was called for a foul for putting his hand on Wade's hip as he tried to dunk the ball.
On the next Kings possession, Wade came up with another steal and fed Michael Carter-Williams for a breakaway basket to seal the win.
Cousins was 16 for 28 from the field, including 2 for 7 on 3-pointers, and added 14 rebounds.
In Boston, Damian Lillard had a three-point play with 47 seconds left in overtime and finished with 28 points to lift Portland over Boston, 127-123, snapping its four-game losing streak.
CJ McCollum scored 35 points to lead Portland, which lost in the closing seconds in Philadelphia on Friday night. Lillard added seven assists.
“”It does boggle the mind how somebody can be so thin skinned,” he said. “It’s all obvious, it’s about him. If anything affects him, if it’s Saturday Night Live or Hamilton, or she got three more million votes than you. ‘They’re illegal.’ It doesn’t matter what it is, there’s a pattern there. And that’s dangerous. I’d like to have someone with gravitas, but he got there through the electoral college which is part of our system, and I hope he does some good things. SPURS COACH GREG POPOVICH ON DONALD TRUMP