Spurs’ size an issue for Hornets
Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge each had 17 points and seven rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs held the Charlotte Hornets to 37 percent shooting in a 10686 win on Saturday night.
Rudy Gay added 15 points for the Spurs, who snapped Charlotte’s three-game home win streak.
The Hornets entered the game 7-2 at the Spectrum Center, but shot just 22 percent from the field in the first half, fell behind by 11 at halftime and could never make a serious run.
Kemba Walker, who left the game briefly in the third quarter with a left shoulder injury, returned to finish with 18 points. He didn’t get much help as Charlotte’s four other starters — Nic Batum, Dwight Howard, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marvin Williams — were a combined 6 of 29 from the field. CELTICS 108, PACERS 98 >> Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and Al Horford added 21 to lead Boston. Horford had 12 points during a period that saw Indiana record two three-minute scoring droughts.
The Pacers (11-9) were led by Myles Turner, who had 19 points but spent much of the night in foul trouble. Lance Stephenson had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Damontas Sabonis had 17 points and eight boards. Victor Oladipo did not play for the first time this season. He sat with a bruised right knee sustained in Friday’s 107-104 win over Toronto.
76ERS 130, MAGIC 111 >> J. J. Redick hit eight 3-pointers and scored 29 points, and Philadelphia cruised without the injured Ben Simmons. Joel Embiid shook off a cold to score 18 points and grab 14 rebounds and T.J. McConnell had 15 points and 13 assists filling in at point guard for Simmons. Redick hit six first-half 3s, four coming in the final 3:10 of the second quarter.
Elfrid Payton had 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for the Magic. TRAIL BLAZERS 108, WIZARDS 105 >> C.J. McCollum scored 26 points, including seven straight during a 10-0 game-closing run, and Portland overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit. Damian Lillard scored 29 points for Portland, while Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points and Noah Vonleh grabbed 10 rebounds for the Blazers. Bradley Beal scored 26 points and Otto Porter added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Washington. ROCKETS 117, KNICKS 102 >> James Harden had 37 points and 10 assists as Houston rallied from an early deficit. The Rockets erased New York’s early 22-point lead by making 18 3-pointers and getting 44 points from their bench, led by 17 from Ryan Anderson. Michael Beasley had a season-high 30 points, while Kyle O’Quinn had his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 15 rebounds. RAPTORS 112, HAWKS 78 >> Norman Powell scored 17 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 16 for Toronto, which dominated the game so completely that it needed just 28 minutes from DeMar DeRozan. Kyle Lowry had 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds as the Raptors snapped a two-game skid. Dennis Schroder scored 14 points and Taurean Prince and Marco Belinelli each had 10 for the Hawks.
JAZZ 120, BUCKS 106 >> Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points and Utah made a season-high 18 3-pointers. Rodney Hood scored 21 and Derrick Favors added 16 for the Jazz. Giannis Antetokoumnpo had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks. MAVERICKS 97, THUNDER 81 >> Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 19 points for the Mavericks and Dennis Smith held his own against Russell Westbrook on the rookie Dallas guard’s 20th birthday. Smith finished with 15 points and four assists while Westbrook had 28 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. CLIPPERS 97, KINGS 95 >> Blake Griffin scored 33 points, including the gamewinner with 3.2 seconds left to lift Los Angeles on the road.