Miami tops Detroit to end a 4-game losing streak
>> Bam Adebayo had 22 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes, and the Miami Heat ended a four-game losing streak with a 108-95 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
Adebayo went 10 for 14 from the floor before sitting out the fourth quarter as Miami coasted to the win. Caleb Martin and Terry Rozier each had 18 points.
“Bam was going to impose his will on this game, and he did it on both ends of the court,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That's what leaders do. In the toughest moments of the season, they step up and you just follow them.”
The Pistons were trying for their first three-game winning streak since the 2021-22 season, but committed 18 turnovers that led to 33 Miami points.
Simone Fontecchio scored 24 points for Detroit and Jalen Duren added 15 points and 17 rebounds.
NUGGETS 117, SPURS 106 >> Nikola Jokic scored 31 points and Denver beat San Antonio in a game played in the Texas capital as the Spurs drew a record crowd in their bid to broaden their regional fan base.
Jamal Murray added 15 points and 10 assists for Denver, which won its fifth straight game and for the 11th time in 12 games to remain atop
the Western Conference standings.
Jeremy Sochan scored 19 points and Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama each had 17 points for San Antonio, which lost its third straight.
The Spurs have played in Austin the last two seasons to broaden their reach financially and build their fan base. The move proved a
popular choice as the Spurs set the attendance record for a sporting event at the Moody Center with 16,223. SUNS 107, HORNETS 96 >> Devin Booker led a balanced Phoenix attack with 21 points and 11 assists as the Suns beat the Charlotte Hornets for their fourth win in six games.
Grayson Allen and Bradley Beal each scored 15
points, and Jusuf Nurkic chipped in with 13 points and 21 rebounds for the Suns (39-28), who bounced back from a lopsided 127112 loss to the NBA-best Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Vasa Micic followed up a career-high 25-point effort on Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies with 21 points to lead
Charlotte. Miles Bridges added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets. MAGIC 113, RAPTORS 103 >> Franz Wagner scored 19 points, Paolo Banchero had 17 and Orlando beat shorthanded Toronto handing the Raptors their seasonworst sixth straight loss.
Jalen Suggs scored 16 points, Wendell Carter Jr. added 15 and Cole Anthony had 12 for the Magic, who led by as many as 19 and have won seven of nine.
Banchero also had nine rebounds and eight assists.
Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-high 31 points for the Raptors and Immanuel Quickley had 10 points and 10 assists. Quickley has a career-high eight games with 10 or more assists this season, all of them coming since he was traded to Toronto last Dec. 30. PELICANS 112, CLIPPERS 104 >> Zion Williamson scored 34 points and New Orleans beat Los Angeles, pulling within two games of the Clippers for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
New Orleans also won the season series, 3-1. The fourth and fifth seeds meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and the Pelicans would own the regular-season, head-to-head tiebreaker over the Clippers, if it came to that in mid-April.
Spending most of the game as New Orleans' primary ball-handler, Williamson initiated the Pelicans' offense and ultimately took over the game, scoring time after time on explosive moves to the hoop that were both powerful and shifty.
Paul George scored 26 points and Kawhi Leonard had 23 for Los Angeles, which played without James Harden (left shoulder strain) for a second straight game. Harden has averaged 17.4 points this season.