Leonard leads red-hot Clippers
Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points and the Los An- geles Clippers beat Okla- homa City 108-100 on Sunday for their seventh con- secutive victory and second straight over the Thunder.
Serge Ibaka added 17 points. At 13-4, the Clip- pers are tied with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. Leonard’s total was one off his season high to go with nine rebounds and eight assists. He had 31 points in LA’s 14-point win over the Thunder on Friday night.
“On a night when we weren’t making shots, it was a good, tough, grind- out win for us,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Kawhi had it going so we played through him a lot, especially in the second half. We had to ride him pretty hard just so we could continue to keep the lead.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 23 points against his former team, and George Hill added 22 points. Oklahoma City has lost three in a row and five of six.
Hill hit three straight 3-pointers for the Thunder after they trailed by 17 in the fourth. Reggie Jackson turned the ball over and Luguentz Dort fed Gilgeous-Alexander for a dunk that capped 11 consecutive points and cut their deficit to 102-96.
Leonard dunked to stop the Thunder’s run. Gilgeous-Alexander dribbled inside and scored, getting the Thunder back within six. Oklahoma City was forced to foul in the closing seconds and Jackson made 4 of 6 free throws to close it out.
CELTICS 141, CAVALIERS 103 >>
Jaylen Brown scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter and Boston snapped its three-game losing streak by cruising past visiting Cleveland.
Kemba Walker added 21 points, Daniel Theis scored 17, Carsen Edwards had 15 and Marcus Smart had 12 for Boston, which posted a season high in points in a half, taking a 73-51 edge into intermission. Brown played just 19 minutes.
Collin Sexton led Cleveland
with 13 points, far below his team-leading average of 26.8 per game, as the Cavaliers’ three-game winning streak ended.
HORNETS 107, MAGIC 104 >>
Gordon Hayward broke a tie with a layup with 0.7 seconds left and scored 39 points in Charlotte’s comeback victory that ended a four-game losing streak.
SPURS 121, WIZARDS 101 >> Patty Mills scored 21 points, Lonnie Walker IV added 16 and San Antonio used its depth to beat Washington in the Wizards’ first game in two weeks.
Washington had its previous six games postponed because it did not have enough eligible players due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols. Washington was playing for the first time since Jan. 11.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and Devin Vassell had 14 points for San Antonio.
RAPTORS 107, PACERS 192 >> OG Anunoby scored 30 points and made three free throws in the final minute to break a tie and help Toronto win for the fifth time in the last six games.
Indiana’s Myles Turner had 25 points and six blocks.
ANOTHER GAME POSTPONED >> The Memphis Grizzlies won’t play until at least Saturday, after the NBA called off yet another game — the 20th since Jan. 10 and the 21st postponement this season.
Memphis was scheduled to play Sunday and tonight at home against Sacramento. Those were called off late last week and now, the Grizzlies’ home game against Chicago that was scheduled for Wednesday is off as well.
The NBA said the Wednesday game was called off “due to contact tracing within the Grizzlies and the length of time preceding the game during which Memphis will be unable to practice.”
It was the sixth postponement for the Grizzlies.