Leonard back in Toronto, leads Clippers past Raptors 112-92
TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points in his return to Toronto, Lou Williams had 18 and the Clippers won their third straight game Wednesday, beating the slumping Raptors 112-92.
Maurice Harkless scored 14 points and Paul George had 13 as the Clippers evened their road record at 6-6.
Before the game, Leonard received his championship ring from the 2018-19 season, when he helped Toronto beat Golden State in six games for the franchise’s first NBA title.
Clippers guard Patrick Beverley scored 11 points in 19 minutes before leaving in the third quarter because of a concussion. Beverley collided with Marc Gasol’s shoulder as the Raptors center was setting a screen.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points, Norman Powell had 22 and OG Anunoby 13 as the Raptors lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped their third straight at home. Toronto set a franchise record with nine straight home victories to begin the season.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — LeBron James had 25 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds to help Los Angeles beat Orlando.
Anthony Davis had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won 13 of 14. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15 points for Los Angeles.
Jonathan Isaac led Orlando with 19 points. Evan Fournier had 18 and Aaron Gordon finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The Lakers weren’t crisp offensively at the start of the game but didn’t have to be. Los Angeles limited Orlando to a season-low first quarter shooting of 19% (4 of 21) and turned that into a 26-9 lead.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Malcolm Brogdon scored 29 points and Aaron Holiday scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help Indiana rally past Boston.
Indiana trailed 94-84 after three quarters but took the lead for good on the first of Holiday's two 3-pointers with 4:16 left.
Kemba Walker scored a season-high 44 points and had seven assists — not enough to extend the Celtics' four-game winning streak.
Indiana snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series — including Boston's first-round playoff sweep last season.
Domantas Sabonis flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 15 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Brogdon closed it out by making all six free throws in the final 17 seconds.
CLEVELAND (AP) — James Harden scored 55 points — 20 in the fourth quarter — and Russell Westbrook added 23 points as Houston withstood an unexpected scare from Cleveland.
The free-falling Cavaliers have lost eight straight and 14 of 15.
Harden matched Kyrie Irving's arena record for points in a game, and his fourth with 50 or more this season bailed out the Rockets, who allowed the Cavs to score 24 straight points in the second half.
Cleveland was still up 108-107 when Harden, who came in leading the NBA in scoring at 38 points per game, dropped a floater in the lane. After a turnover by Cavs guard Jordan Clarkson, P.J. Tucker hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Clint Capela (13 rebounds) had a dunk following another Cleveland miscue.
The Cavs made three turnovers in the final minute.
NEW YORK (AP) — Devonte' Graham scored a career-high 40 points, and Charlotte rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat Brooklyn.
Graham had 27 points in the second half in Charlotte's second straight victory. Miles Bridges added 14 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 24 points and Jarrett Allen added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
JAZZ 127, TIMBERWOLVES 116
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Donovan Mitchell had 30 points and six assists, Joe Ingles pitched in a season-high 23 points and Utah dealt Minnesota its sixth straight loss.
Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, who won for just the third time in nine games by taking over with a 38-24 advantage in the third quarter.
Jeff Teague scored 32 points, making all four of his 3-pointers and all six of his free throws, but the Timberwolves dropped their sixth consecutive home game and fell to 3-8 at Target Center this season.
Andrew Wiggins had 26 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota.
CHICAGO (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 35 points in three quarters, Lauri Markkanen added 22 and Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over road-weary Atlanta.
LaVine, who sat out the final 14 minutes, was 12 for 15 from the field, including 7 for 7 from 3-point range.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds and rookie Coby White had 19 points.
Trae Young had 15 points and 13 assists, Alex Len scored 17 points and rookie Cam Reddish added 16 for Atlanta, which has dropped two straight and 13 of 15.
PHOENIX (AP) — Dillon Brooks scored 27 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 24 and Memphis earned a win over Phoenix.
Memphis won two games in a row for the first time in nearly a month. Jackson shot 10 of 18 from the field, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range, and the Grizzlies improved to 6-0 when Brooks scores at least 20 points.
Frank Kaminsky III led the Suns with a season-high 24 points and Ricky Rubio tied a season-high with 22. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Leading scorer Devin Booker had an off night with just 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out but Milwaukee kept on rolling, getting 29 points from Eric Bledsoe in a over the New Orleans that extended the Bucks’ winning streak to 16 games.
The Bucks (22-3) tied the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and moved closer to the franchise record of 20, set during the team’s 1970-71 championship season.
Antetokounmpo sat out with a right quad tendon injury, missing his first game this season.
Khris Middleton added 24 points for Milwaukee and Ersan Ilyasova had 18 points and nine rebounds. George Hill contributed 13 points off the bench.
New Orleans (6-19) lost its 10th straight game despite a season-high 31 points from J.J. Redick and 25 points and 10 rebounds from Brandon Ingram. Jrue Holiday had 21 points.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Bogdan Bogdanovic made a 3-pointer with 13.4 seconds remaining, and Sacramento overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Oklahoma City.
Both teams committed turnovers with the game tied in the final minute before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit two free throws to put the Thunder up 93-91 with 31.6 seconds left.
Bogdanovic got the ball outside the arc and paused as Oklahoma City defender Dennis Schroder went flying past him trying for a block. Bogdanovic then hit a 28-foot jumper to give Sacramento the lead.
Chris Paul missed a shot from the elbow for the Thunder as time expired.
Buddy Hield had eight of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings. Bogdanovic scored 17 and Marvin Bagley III added 11 points and six rebounds after missing the previous 22 games with a broken right thumb.
Schroder had 17 points to lead six Thunder players in double figures. Paul wasn’t one of them. Oklahoma City’s point guard had eight points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
The Thunder had won three straight.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Marcus Morris scored a season-high 36 points and New York held off Golden State in overtime to snap a 10-game losing streak.
Julius Randle added 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Knicks (5-20) fought off a furious Warriors comeback and gave Mike Miller his first win as interim coach.
Golden State (5-21) trailed by 21 in the second quarter but roared back to take the lead with just more than eight minutes left.
The teams with the two worst records in the NBA then staged an entertaining finish, with D’Angelo Russell hitting a 3-pointer for Golden State to tie it at 112 with 3.9 seconds to go in the fourth.
Randle’s 3-pointer broke a 114-all tie in overtime and put the Knicks in front for good.
Russell finished with 32 points for the injury-depleted Warriors.
