Leonard gets 34 in Spurs’ OT win
Kawhi Leonard had 34 points and 10 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame a listless start at home to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 97-90 in overtime Saturday night.
San Antonio wrapped up its 20th straight playoff spot with the victory. The Spurs won in overtime for the second straight night to extend their winning streak to seven and improve to 48-13.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, and Pau Gasol had 17 points and eight rebounds in his fifth straight game as a reserve. The Spurs outscored the Timberwolves 35-20 in the final quarter and overtime.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota. The Timberwolves had not played since Wednesday night in Utah and had won four of five.
Leonard had six points in overtime, and played 44 minutes after playing 40 minutes on Friday night in New Orleans. He finished with six steals and five assists as San Antonio beat Minnesota for the 10th straight time.
Trail Blazers 130, Nets 116: CJ McCollum scored 31 points to lead host Portland past Brooklyn. The Blazers went 16 of 25 (64 percent) on three-pointers and shot 57 percent from the field overall. With its win and Denver’s loss to Charlotte, the Blazers moved 1½ games behind the Nuggets for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 26 points. Hornets 112, Nuggets 102: Kemba Walker scored 27 points, Nicolas Batum had 21 points and eight assists, and visiting Charlotte beat Denver. Marvin Williams had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who wrapped up a sevengame trip. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets ith 31 points and 14 rebounds, and Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points. Rockets 123, Grizzlies 108: James Harden scored 33 points and Clint Capela had 24 and host Houston built a big lead in the third quarter and coasted to victory over Memphis. Eric Gordon added 18 points and made six of Houston’s 18 three-pointers. Mike Conley had 23 points for the Grizzlies and JaMychal Green added 20.
Clippers 101, Bulls 91: Reserve Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and took over down the stretch to carry Los Angeles to victory in Chicago. Crawford, a former Bulls guard, scored 10 points in a 14-7 spurt in the fourth quarter as the Clippers won for the second time in six games. Chris Paul added 17 points and Blake Griffin had 16 for Los Angeles. Jimmy Butler scored 16 points for the Bulls.
Heat 120, Cavaliers 92: Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Hassan Whiteside had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and host Miami beat undermanned Cleveland. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving got the night off to rest. The Cavaliers fell to 0-5 this season when James isn’t in the lineup. Kevin Love and J.R. Smith are still recovering from surgeries. Newly signed center Andrew Bogut also wasn’t with the Cavaliers. Channing Frye scored 21 points and Kyle Korver added 15 for the Cavaliers, who have lost their past 12 games in Miami.
Bucks 101, Raptors 94: Khris Middleton scored a24 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 21 and host Milwaukee beat Toronto. Malcolm Brogdon had 17 and Spencer Hawes finished with 16 off the bench for Milwaukee, which halted a seven-game losing streak to Toronto. Serge Ibaka had 19 points and Cory Joseph 14 for Toronto. Pistons 136, 76ers 106: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 13 of his 26 points in Detroit’s dominating third quarter, and the visiting Pistons set a season high for points while rolling to victory over Philadelphia. Marcus Morris scored 22 points, Tobias Harris added 20 and Andre Drummond had 14 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Briefly: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he wants to see changes to make the All-Star Game more competitive. This year’s game was won by the Western Conference 192-182. “We will change it by next year,” Silver said. “It shouldn’t be playoff intensity, but the guys should be playing.” ... Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for making contact with a referee during his team’s 135-130 loss to the Cavaliers on Friday.