Sochan’s double-double leads Spurs past Magic, 132-114
SAN ANTONIO — Jeremy Sochan had 29 points and 10 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs had a franchise-high 22 3-pointers and season-high 39 assists in a 132-114 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
San Antonio center Zach Collins added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Spurs are 6-27 in 2023, but have now won four of seven.
Orlando rookie Paolo Banchero had 27 points and Wendell Carter Jr. added 16 points. The Magic have lost five of their last seven games in their push for a berth in the postseason play-in tournament.
Sochan returned from a one-game absence, but the Spurs were without Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham, Tre Jones, Rome Langford.
San Antonio responded with its best shooting game of the season, making 57% of its shots from the field and going 22 fof 41 from 3-point range.
Collins was 3 for 3 on 3-pointers as he continues his career rejuvenation after playing just 29 games the previous three seasons. Collins, who had two surgeries on his left foot following another surgery to repair a torn left labrum, sat out all of 2021.
San Antonio had 19 assists in the first half, which was eight off their average per game.
Sandro Mamukelashvili had consecutive alley-oop passes to Sochan. The first led to a one-handed dunk by Sochan that gave the Spurs a 62-54 lead with 2:38 remaining in the first half. They teamed up for another alley-oop dunk 36 seconds later.
RAPTORS 125, NUGGETS 110
TORONTO — Fred VanVleet scored 36 points, O.G. Anunoby had 24 and the Toronto Raptors used a franchise-record 49-point first quarter to beat Denver, handing the slumping Nuggets their season-high fourth straight loss.
Nikola Jokic scored 28 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 23 and Aaron Gordon had 18 for the Western Conference-leading Nuggets, who are winless since a March 6 home victory over the Raptors.
VanVleet shot 13 for 22 and made a season-high eight of his 12 attempts from distance as Toronto extended its home winning streak to five.
Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and 11 rebounds, Pascal Siakam scored 12 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 11 for the Raptors.
Jamal Murray shot 5 for 18 and scored 14 points and Bruce Brown added 12, but the Nuggets lost the opener of a season-high, five-game trip.
WIZARDS 117, PISTONS 97
WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal scored 36 points, and Washington snapped its three-game losing streak with a victory over Detroit.
Playing without Kyle Kuzma, the Wizards still raced out to a 22-point advantage in the first quarter, and although they’ve had issues holding those types of leads this season, the last-place Pistons represented little threat.
Washington (32-37) moved percentage points ahead of Chicago (31-36) for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Killian Hayes scored 20 points to lead Detroit, which had snapped an 11-game skid by beating Indiana on Monday.
CAVALIERS 120, HORNETS 104
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Evan Mobley had 26 points and Cleveland scored 35 points off Charlotte turnovers and beat the Hornets for the second time in three days.
Cedi Osman scored 24 points off the bench and Caris LeVert added 22 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers, who played without AllStar guard Donovan Mitchell (sprained finger) and center Jarrett Allen (eye contusion). Darius Garland chipped in 19 points.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 28 points and Terry Rozier added 22 points and 10 assists for the Hornets, who have lost three straight and fell to 11-27 at home.