OHTANI PUTS ON A ‘SHO’ FOR L.A. ANGELS
Aldridge goes for 23 points, 14 rebounds against Houston
Angels’ two-way star Shohei Ohtani won his major league pitching debut, throwing threehit ball over six innings in a win over the Oakland A’s
SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Rudy Gay added 21 points as the San Antonio Spurs held Houston to its lowestscoring game of the season, beating the Rockets 10083 on Sunday.
The Spurs remained fourth in the Western Conference after preventing a season sweep by the Rockets. Houston owns the NBA’s best record.
The Rockets were without injured Chris Paul and the Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard, who has played in only nine games this season.
James Harden scored 25 points for Houston on 8-of19 shooting. He also had eight assists, but battled foul trouble before exiting with five fouls.
CAVALIERS 98, MAVERICKS 87: In Cleveland, LeBron James struggled before extending his record double-digit scoring streak to 868 games and Cleveland had a rough time with Dallas before putting away the lottery-bound Mavericks.
James had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, his 17th triple-double this season and No. 72 of his career.
WARRIORS 117, SUNS 107: In Oakland, Calif., Kevin Durant had 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Golden State overcame a sloppy start to hand Phoenix its franchise-record 15th consecutive loss.
Draymond Green added 13 points and 12 assists, Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Quinn Cook had 19 points for Golden State. THUNDER 109, PELICANS 104: In New Orleans, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double to lead Oklahoma City.
Westbrook finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.
Paul George scored Oklahoma City’s first 11 points in the second quarter and finished with 27. Carmelo Anthony added 16 and Steven Adams had 14.
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 25 points and 11 rebounds. 76ERS 119, HORNETS 102: In Charlotte, N.C., Ben Simmons had 20 points and 15 assists as Philadelphia kept up its passing prowess to beat Charlotte.
Former Hornet Marco Belinelli scored 22 points off the bench and J.J. Redick had 20.
PISTONS 108, NETS 96: In New York, Reggie Jackson scored 29 points, Stanley Johnson had 17 and Detroit preserved its slim playoff hopes with a victory over Brooklyn.
Detroit, playing its third straight game without injured All-Star forward Blake Griffin, avoided elimination from postseason contention for at least one game. PACERS 111, CLIPPERS 104: In Los Angeles, Victor Oladipo scored 30 points, Myles Turner added 24 and Indiana rallied for its fifth straight victory.
NUGGETS 128, BUCKS 125, OT: In Denver, Nikola Jokic had 35 points and 13 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored 18 of his 27 points after the third quarter and Denver rallied from eight down in the final minute of regulation to win in overtime. JAZZ 121, TIMBERWOLVES 97: In Minneapolis, Ricky Rubio scored 23 points, including a seasonhigh 5-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers, and Donovan Mitchell added 21 points for Utah.
BULLS 113, WIZARDS 94: In Chicago, Rookie Lauri Markkanen scored 23 points and connected on 5 of 8 3-pointers to lead Chicago. TRAIL BLAZERS 113, GRIZZLIES 98: In Portland, Damian Lillard posted 27 points and nine assists for the Blazers in the win. HAWKS 94, MAGIC 88: In Atlanta, Tyler Dorsey scored 19 points, including back-to-back baskets after Orlando trimmed Atlanta’s lead to five points late in a matchup of the Eastern Conference’s worst records. KINGS 84, LAKERS 83: In Los Angeles, Buddy Hield scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Kings. Julius Randle also had 19 points to lead the Lakers.