Warriors pull away in 3rd, quiet Beal to win in Washington
WASHINGTON (AP) A day after taking schoolkids to a museum instead of visiting President Donald Trump at the White House, the Golden State Warriors won for the seventh time in eight games by beating the Washington Wizards 109-101 as Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Stephen Curry added 25, and Klay Thompson limited Bradley Beal to eight Wednesday night.
Durant shot 12 for 20, Thompson scored 13, and Draymond Green contributed 11 points and 11 assists.
Otto Porter Jr. led Washington with 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 17 on 4-of-16 shooting. Beal came in averaging a team-leading 23.7 points but he missed his first nine shots and had zero points at halftime. His first basket came with under 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Wizards were again without All-Star point guard John Wall, who sat out his 14th game in a row after surgery on his left knee, but they trailed only 58-56 after two quarters Wednesday. Golden State tends to dominate third quarters, though, and this evening was no exception: It opened that period with a 16-4 run that made it 74-60 and was in control from there.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - James Harden scored 17 of his 25 points in Houston's dominant first quarter, and the Rockets rolled past Los Angeles for their 14th consecutive victory.
The Rockets (48-13) matched their longest winning streak of the season and remained a half-game ahead of Golden State for the NBA's best record.
Clint Capela and Eric Gordon each scored 22 points for the Rockets, who made 13 3-pointers.
Tobias Harris led the Clippers with 24 points, with Montrezl Harrell added 22. Lou Williams and Milos Teodosic each scored 13.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Anthony Davis had 26 points and 15 rebounds, and New Orleans rallied in the final two minutes to beat San Antonio, adding to the Spurs' misery after losing LaMarcus Aldridge to an injury in the first half.
New Orleans won its seventh straight after trailing by as many as 15 points.
San Antonio, which has been without superstar forward Kawhi Leonard for all but nine games this season, lost Aldridge to a sprained right ankle late in the first half. Aldridge landed awkwardly while defending a driving hook shot by Davis with three minutes left in the second quarter.
The injury would prove critical down the stretch for the Spurs, who've lost five of their past six. The team did not immediately disclose how long Aldridge will be out.
BOSTON (AP) - Kyrie Irving scored 34 points in the first three quarters, and then sat out the fourth with the rest of Boston's starters as the Celtics routed Charlotte.
Aron Baynes had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 15, including nine in the third quarter as the Celtics shot 60 percent and turned the game into a blowout. Terry Rozier and Greg Monroe scored 14 points apiece for the Celtics, who won their fourth straight and ended Charlotte's five-game winning streak.
Kemba Walker made his first eight shots and led Charlotte with 23 points. Dwight Howard had 21 points for the Hornets, who were coming off a victory over Chicago on Tuesday night and couldn't keep up with the Celtics after halftime.
DETROIT (AP) - Andre Drummond had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Detroit dominated inside in a victory over Milwaukee.
The Pistons outscored Milwaukee 56-34 in the paint and had 15 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. Blake Griffin had eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Detroit, which won for only the second time in eight games.
Eric Bledsoe scored 19 points for the Bucks, who have lost three straight. Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo left with 10:08 remaining in the game with an apparent injury around his right eye. He eventually walked toward the locker room.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points and Kyle Lowry added 17 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to lead Toronto over Orlando.
Pascal Siakam had 14 points, including 10 in the final five minutes as the Raptors pulled away for their 11th win in 13 games. Jakob Poeltl added 13 points and Fred Van Fleet had 12.
Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja scored 17 apiece for Orlando, which has lost seven straight games. Nikola Vucevic added 14 points and Aaron Gordon had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic.
THUNDER 111, MAVERICKS 110, OT
DALLAS (AP) - Russell Westbrook scored 30 points, including the go-ahead three-point play in the final minute of overtime, and Oklahoma City beat Dallas.
Westbrook, who had 11 rebounds and seven assists, drove for the tying layup and made the free throw with 38 seconds left in OT to help the playoff-contending Thunder salvage a four-game split of the season series against a one-time postseason rival now among the NBA's worst teams.
Dwight Powell forced overtime at 100-all with a follow shot at the buzzer to match his career high with 21 points. It was the first points for Dallas since Powell's alley-oop dunk with 4 minutes remaining. Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 26 points.
ATLANTA (AP) - Dennis Schroder scored seven of Atlanta's final eight points to finish with 14, and the Hawks held off a late Indiana comeback.
John Collins had 16 points for the Hawks, who led by 23 before holding on late to end their four-game losing streak.
Bojan Bogdanovic led Indiana with 26 points while making four 3-pointers in the final period. His third 3 of the period cut the Atlanta lead to 97-91. A follow shot by Domantas Sabonis, who had 14 points, pulled the Pacers to 101-99.
Schroder answered with a layup with 44 seconds remaining, and then added another driving layup following an Indiana turnover.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Devin Booker scored 34 points, Josh Jackson added a career-best 29 and Phoenix snapped a 10-game losing streak by beating Memphis.
Elfrid Payton had 19 points and 10 assists for Phoenix, which won for the first time since defeating the Dallas Mavericks 102-88 on Jan. 31.
While the Suns snapped their losing streak, the misery continued for Memphis, which lost its 11th straight as the Grizzlies were winless in February.
Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Andrew Harrison scored 20 points.
