Raptors get defensive at home to edge Spurs
Hardaway Jr. scores 31 as Knicks top Jazz Clarkson, Lakers down Pacers Nets cool off Heat
Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and DeMar DeRozan added 21 as the Toronto Raptors defeated the San Antonio Spurs 86-83 in a defensive battle on Friday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Toronto led just 70-69 with 6:53 to play but ran away with a 10-2 run over the ensuing four and a half minutes to build enough of a cushion to hold off the Spurs’ late surge, which included a last-second missed shot by Bryn Forbes that could have tied the game.
The Raptors outshot San Antonio 40 percent-33. 3 percent and outlasted the Spurs despite being outrebounded 55-50.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 points and took 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who won their second straight game. It was Toronto’s lowest-scoring game of the season; the Raptors average more than 112 points per game.
LaMarcus Aldridge led San Antonio with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Pau Gasol added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who played without injured forwards Kawhi Leonard and Rudy Gay and injured guard Manu Ginobili.
Knicks 117, Jazz 115
Tim Hardaway, Jr. scored 31 points and went 6-of-7 from three-point range to lead New York to a win at Utah.
Courtney Lee and Kristaps Porzingis each chipped in 18 points for the Knicks. New York won for just the third time in 10 games in January.
Rudy Gobert tallied a season-high 23 points and 14 rebounds in his first game back from a knee injury that sidelined him for 15 games. Rodney Hood scored 18 points while Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell added 17 points apiece for the Jazz.
Utah rallied from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit and tied it up at 91-all on a basket from Mitchell. The Knicks countered with back-toback baskets from Enes Kanter and Trey Burke to make it 98-93 moments later. Then Hardaway, Jr. converted a four-point play and drove for a dunk to put New York up 109-100 with 3:21 remaining.
The Jazz mounted one final rally and cut it to 115-112 on a three-point play from Gobert. Hardaway, Jr. missed a pair of free throws to open the door for a tying basket. Utah had three different cracks at a tying three-pointer, but missed each one.
Lakers 99, Pacers 86
Jordan Clarkson scored 16 of his season-high 33 points in the final quarter to lead Los Angeles to a 99-86 victory over Indiana at the Staples Center.
Clarkson was 14-of-19 shooting and also contributed seven rebounds and seven assists while falling two points shy of his career high. Julius Randle added 14 points and Kyle Kuzma scored 13 as the Lakers won for the fifth time in the past seven games.
Nets 101, Heat 95
DeMarre Carroll scored a season-high 26 points as Brooklyn, which trailed by 16 in the third quarter, rallied to defeat Miami at Barclays Center.
The Heat were led by center Hassan Whiteside, who had 22 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Point guard Goran Dragic added 17 points.
Brooklyn cooled off a Miami team that, even with the loss, has won eight of its last 10 games overall and eight of its last 11 on the road.
Grizzlies 106, Kings 88
Reserve Ben McLemore had 12 of his season-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and Dillon Brooks scored 22 points as Memphis spoiled Zach Randolph’s return in a victory over Sacramento.
Tyreke Evans added 14 points and Andrew Harrison had 12 for the Grizzlies, who won their third straight game while sending the Kings to their seventh straight loss.
Former Memphis fixture Randolph had four points and six rebounds in 19 minutes, and he received a pregame bear hug from former front-court mate Marc Gasol in his first game in Memphis since signing a two-year, $24 million free-agent deal with the Kings in the offseason.
Wizards 122, Pistons 112
Kelly Oubre and Bradley Beal scored 26 points apiece and Washington handed Detroit its fourth consecutive loss.
John Wall scored all of his 16 points for the visitors in the second half and had 11 assists for Washington, which scored 76 second-half points. Otto Porter also supplied 16 points, while Markieff Morris tossed in 13 and Marcin Gortat added 10.
Suns 108, Nuggets 100
Guard Devin Booker scored 30 points and T.J. Warren added 25 points in Phoenix’s victory over Denver at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Reserves Josh Jackson and Isaiah Canaan had 16 points apiece and Canaan made a season-high four three-pointers for the Suns, who broke a three-game losing streak. (Reuters)