Leonard surpasses 30 again, Clippers beat Timberwolves
LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, his ninth straight game with at least that many, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-106 Saturday. Karl-Anthony Towns countered with 32 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, his fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points, but it wasn’t enough to keep Minnesota from losing its 11th in a row, matching the team’s skid from December.
Paul George added 21 points in 26 minutes and Lou Williams had 17 for the Clippers, who have won seven of nine.
WIZARDS 113, NETS 107
WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal scored 34 points, Thomas Bryant added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Washington beat Brooklyn.
The Nets lost Kyrie Irving to a sprained right knee in the fourth quarter. He was held to a season-low 11 points, a night after scoring a season-best 54.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 12 straight points for Brooklyn late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, led the Nets with 26 points. Joe Harris had 22 and Jarrett Allen had 13 points and 15 rebounds.
It was the second straight victory for the Wizards, just their third winning streak of the season.
CELTICS 116, 76ERS 95
BOSTON — Jaylen Brown had 32 points and nine rebounds, and Jayson Tatum scored nine of his 25 points in a 99-second span that gave Boston the lead for good as the Celtics cruised past Philadelphia.
Playing without injured point guard Kemba Walker, the Celtics beat Philadelphia for the first time this season, avoiding a sweep by the team right behind them in the Atlantic Division. It was Boston’s sixth win in its last seven games.
Ben Simmons scored 23 and ex-Celtic Al Horford had nine points and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who lost for the third time in five games. Joel Embiid scored 11, making just 1 of 11 shots and missing all four of the 3-pointers he attempted.
WARRIORS 131, CAVS 112
CLEVELAND — Glenn Robinson III scored 22 points, Draymond Green tied a career high with 16 assists and Golden State dominated the second half, beating Cleveland in a matchup between teams at the bottom of the NBA standings.
Golden State (11-39) has the NBA’s worst record while Cleveland (13-37) has the secondworst record in the Eastern Conference.
The matchup bore little resemblance to when the teams met in the NBA Finals every year from 201518. The Warriors won three times while the Cavaliers broke the city’s 52-year championship drought in 2016.
Collin Sexton scored 23 points while Kevin Love had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland.
MAVERICKS 123, HAWKS 100
DALLAS — Jalen Brunson scored 27 points in his ninth start of the season, Dorian FinneySmith added 22 points and Maxi Kleber 18 as Dallas beat Atlanta in a game between teams with depleted rosters.
Brunson scored 19 points in the first half, nearly surpassing his previous season high of 21. He scored 13 in the second quarter as Dallas took control. Finney-Smith matched his season best.
The Mavericks were missing their top two scorers, Luka Doncic (sprained right ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (recovering from a left knee injury), for the first time in the same game. They lost another starter, Dwight Powell, for the season on Jan. 21 with a torn right Achilles.
John Collins led the Hawks with 26 points and had 11 rebounds. Kevin Huerter scored 20 points.
Trae Young, who averaged 31.7 points in January, opened February with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting and left the game late in the third quarter with a right ankle sprain. One game after having a career-high 18 assists, Young had one assist.
SAN ANTONIO — DeMar DeRozan had 24 points and San Antonio overcame a 19-point deficit to beat Charlotte in its final home game before a nearly month-long road trip. San Antonio outscored Charlotte 50-15 during a stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters to win their second straight after losing three in a row.
Jakob Poeltl added 17 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes for the Spurs.
San Antonio plays its next eight games on the road as the AT&T Center hosts the city’s annual Stock Show & Rodeo.
Miles Bridges had 25 points for the Hornets, who have lost 10 of 11.
KNICKS 92, PACERS 85
INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus Morris scored 28 points to lead New York over Indiana.
Julius Randle had 16 points and a season-best 18 rebounds, and Taj Gibson added 10 points and seven rebounds to lead the Knicks (14-36), who snapped a two-game skid and won in the series after losing seven straight.
Domantas Sabonis had 25 points and eight rebounds, Myles Turner had 12 points and six rebounds, and Jeremy Lamb added nine points for the Pacers (31-18), who have lost two of three games.
HEAT 102, MAGIC 89
ORLANDO, Fla. — Jimmy Butler scored 24 points and rookie Tyler Herro came off the bench with 23 on Saturday night to lead Miami over Orlando. Meyers Leonard had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Heat before going to the bench with five fouls with 5:49 left in the game. Herro and Leonard combined for 10-of-19 shooting from 3-point range.
Aaron Gordon scored 24 for the Magic, who lost their fifth straight. Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and nine rebounds.