Popovich gains historic win to pass Sloan
SAN ANTONIO — Gregg Popovich became the winningest coach with a single franchise in NBA history, leading San Antonio to a 121-97 victory over Denver on Saturday night.
Popovich earned his 1,128th victory to pass former Utah coach Jerry Sloan for the mark.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 19 points in San Antonio’s final home game before playing eight games on the road during its annual rodeo road trip. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each added 18 points for San Antonio.
Jamal Murray scored 20 points off the bench and Nikola Jokic had 11 in 15 minutes for Denver, which was playing the second game of a backto-back and fourth in five nights. The arduous schedule seemed to catch up with them in the second half. San Antonio opened the third quarter on a 21-7 run. CAVALIERS 111, KNICKS 104
LeBron James had 32 points and 10 assists, Kevin Love added 23 points and 16 rebounds in his return from back spasms as Cleveland won at New York.
Cleveland won for the ninth straight time over the Knicks and didn’t even need Kyrie Irving, who didn’t play because of right quadriceps soreness. WIZARDS 105, PELICANS 91
John Wall had 24 points and 13 assists, Markieff Morris scored 18 points, and Washington held visiting New Orleans scoreless for the final 5:52 of the fourth quarter to beat the Pelicans for its seventh straight win. JAZZ 105, HORNETS 98
Gordon Hayward scored 33 points as Utah rallied to defeat visiting Charlotte.
Utah erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit with big contributions from Hayward, George Hill and Joe Johnson. GRIZZLIES 107, T-WOLVES 99
JaMychal Green scored a career-high 29 points, and Memphis ground out a win over host Minnesota.
Mike Conley added 20 points and eight assists for Memphis, which rested Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Chandler Parsons on the second night of a back-to-back. BUCKS 137, SUNS 112
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points to lead six Milwaukee players in double figures, and the Bucks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over host Phoenix, its highest-scoring game of the season. HAWKS 113, MAGIC 86
Paul Millsap scored 21 points, all in the first three quarters, and Atlanta never trailed in its runaway win over visiting Orlando.
Tim Hardaway Jr. also had 21 points for Atlanta. PACERS 105, PISTONS 84
Paul George scored 21 points, helping Indiana extend its season-best winning streak to six games with a victory over visiting Detroit.
Lavoy Allen had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, replacing an injured Thaddeus Young HEAT 125, 76ERS 102
Hassan Whiteside scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, Dion Waiters needed only 10 shots to score 21 points, and Miami pushed its winning streak to 10 games with an easy win over visiting Philadelphia.
Whiteside had a doubledouble after the first 9:38.
From wire reports