Spurs curtail Warriors’ lead to two games
DeRozan helps Raptors stretch win streak
>> WASHINGTON: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points and Kawhi Leonard added 19 to power San Antonio over visiting Memphis 97-90 on Thursday, moving the Spurs within two games of NBA-leading Golden State.
Australian reserve Patty Mills netted 15 points and French guard Tony Parker contributed 13 as the Spurs improved to 55-16 with their third consecutive triumph, staying within range of the pace-setting Warriors (57-14) with 11 games remaining.
Aldridge cracked the 15,000-point mark for his NBA career with a jumper in the fourth quarter.
Mike Conley scored 22 points to lead the Grizzlies, who fell to 40-32, 1½ games behind Oklahoma City in a fight for sixth in the Western Conference.
DeMar DeRozan scored 40 points and the Toronto Raptors stretched their win streak to four games, rallying from an early 15-point deficit to beat the Miami Heat 101-84.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and try to pick it up on the defensive end as well — not just trying to go up there scoring,” DeRozan said. “We slowly started getting into it and started playing like we wanted to play.”
DeRozan made 14-of-25 shots from the floor and 12-of-13 from the free throw line to achieve 40-or-more points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, after netting 42 against Chicago on Tuesday.
“I don’t think about scoring a certain amount of points or nothing like that,” DeRozan said. “I just go out there and let my game speak for itself — take what they give me.”
The Raptors (43-29) took the lead for good after a 20-4 run during a sixminute stretch overlapping the third and fourth quarters.
Damian Lillard scored 30 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the visiting New York Knicks 110-95. The Knicks were without Carmelo Anthony due to a left knee injury and Derrick Rose with a right foot injury.
Dallas edged the Los Angeles Clippers 97-95, scoring the final five points over the last 2:30 minutes of the fourth quarter.
Seth Curry’s jump shot pulled the host Mavericks within 95-94 with 2:19 minutes to play and Dallas took the lead at 96-95 on Harrison Barnes’ jumper with 68 seconds to play.
The Clippers had three chances to answer but a Chris Paul miss and two turnovers — the last by Blake Griffin with three seconds remaining — led to a Wesley Matthews free throw to create the final margin as JJ Redick missed a desperation three-point attempt at the closing buzzer.
Curry finished with 23 points to lead Dallas while Barnes added 21 and Griffin had 21 to lead the Clippers. In New York, Brook Lopez scored 19 points and KJ McDaniels had a season-high 16 as Brooklyn beat Phoenix 126-98 to give the Nets consecutive victories for the first time this season.
Trevor Booker added 14 points as one of six reserves in double figures for the league-worst Nets, who beat Detroit on Tuesday.
Devin Booker scored 28 points and Marquese Chriss had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns. Alex Len had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Brooklyn took a commanding 84-65 lead into the fourth quarter as Lopez scored 12 points in the third quarter. Brooklyn held Phoenix to 15 points, the fewest points the Nets have allowed in the third quarter this season.
Phoenix opened the game with a 17-4 run and led 32-22 after the first quarter. However, Brooklyn turned the tide in the second quarter and took a 52-50 lead into the halftime.