NBA Wrap: Spurs tie franchise-best start; Thunder turn back Lakers

SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 12 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs held off Kristaps Porzingis and the New York Knicks 100-99 on Friday night (Saturday Manila time) to remain undefeated at home.

San Antonio won its franchise-record 22nd straight home game to open the season and is tied for the franchise's best start after 38 games at 32-6. This was its most difficult home victory yet, though.

Porzingis had 28 points and 11 rebounds but was on the bench when the Knicks started a 14-4 run to pull within 96-94 with 1:27 remaining.

Jose Calderon missed a contested 3-pointer from the left corner for New York that would have won it.

CAVALIERS 125, TIMBERWOLVES 99

MINNEAPOLIS — J.R. Smith scored a season-high 27 points and Kevin Love had 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists in his return to Minnesota to help Cleveland to its sixth straight win.

LeBron James added 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Iman Shumpert had 23 points and the Cavaliers outscored the Timberwolves 22-5 in transition to win for the 12th time in 14 games. Smith made 5 of 6 3-pointers in just 19 minutes and Cleveland was 13 of 27 from long range to cruise to the win.

Andrew Wiggins scored 35 points, Shabazz Muhammad had 22 and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 for the Timberwolves, who have lost five in a row and nine of their last 10.

WARRIORS 128, TRAIL BLAZERS 108

PORTLAND, Ore. — Klay Thompson scored 36 points, making seven 3-pointers, and Golden State beat Portland for its fifth straight victory.

Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry added 26 points and nine assists in three quarters for the Warriors (34-2), who led by as many as 25 points and made 18 3-pointers. Draymond Green finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season.

Curry started despite continued soreness from a bruised left shin that kept him out of a pair of games late last month. He aggravated the injury again when he crashed into Roy Hibbert on Tuesday night and sat out the fourth quarter of Golden State's 109-98 victory at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Damian Lillard had a season-high 40 points and 10 assists for Portland, which dropped its third straight.

BUCKS 96, MAVERICKS 95

MILWAUKEE — Khris Middleton's driving layup with less than 10 seconds to play carried Milwaukee over Dallas.

Middleton scored 27 points, John Henson 16 and Michael Carter-Williams added 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds as Milwaukee snapped Dallas' six-game winning streak against them.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points and Devin Harris came off the bench for a season-high 19 for Dallas.

Nowitzki made two free throws with 38 seconds left for Dallas' first lead since early in the first quarter. But Henson later blocked his pass and it deflected to Middleton, who raced down the court and scored. Deron Williams missed at the buzzer for Dallas.

HEAT 103, SUNS 95

PHOENIX — Dwyane Wade scored 27 points and Miami beat Phoenix for the 11th straight time.

Former Suns guard Goran Dragic added 22 points and Gerald Green, also a former Sun, had 21. They were returning to Phoenix for the first time as opposing players.

A 3-pointer from Green with 4:35 to play gave Miami the lead for good, and Chris Bosh's 3 with 1:57 left put the game out of reach at 98-91.

Green's night included a third-quarter dunk, after which he ran past Suns majority owner Robert Sarver, who applauded him, and a 3-pointer after which he cast a glare at the Suns' bench.

Brandon Knight scored 26 points in the Suns' 10th loss in 11 games.

GRIZZLIES 91, NUGGETS 84

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Zach Randolph scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and Mario Chalmers made a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:30 to lead Memphis over Denver.

Chalmers scored 12 points in the game, with eight in the last 90 seconds to keep the Nuggets at bay.

Jeff Green finished with 16 points, Matt Barnes scored 15 and Marc Gasol had 12 points and five steals. Tony Allen had 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals as Memphis won its fourth in the last six.

Danilo Gallinari had 29 points for Denver, while Darrell Arthur finished with 12 points, all in the second half. Gary Harris scored 11 points as the Nuggets lost for the 10th time in the last 12 games.

PACERS 91, PELICANS 86

NEW ORLEANS — Ian Mahinmi had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Indiana beat a reeling New Orleans team that lost Anthony Davis to a lower back bruise early in the game.

Davis was hurt diving into the stands to stop a ball from going out of bounds on the defensive end. He went to the locker room soon after and never returned.

C.J. Miles scored 15, hitting a running hook inside the final 2 minutes to help Indiana hold on, while Paul George added 13 points and Monta Ellis 10.

Tyreke Evans scored 27 for New Orleans, which has lost four out of five. Ryan Anderson scored 21 points and Jrue Holiday 15.

RAPTORS 97, WIZARDS 88

WASHINGTON — DeMar DeRozan scored 21 of his season-high 35 points in the second half, Kyle Lowry had 21 points and 10 assists, and Toronto beat Washington.

The Raptors overcame a season-high 23 turnovers, taking control with an 18-4 run that gave them a 69-59 lead with 2:40 to play in the third quarter.

John Wall scored 21 points as Washington (15-19) lost for the fifth time in six games and matched a season worst at four games under .500.

Washington, which swept a four-game playoff series between the teams last spring, has lost six consecutive regular-season meetings to the Raptors.

MAGIC 83, NETS 77

NEW YORK — Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic each scored 20 points to lead Orlando over Brooklyn, which has lost nine straight home games.

Aaron Gordon added 14 points and Evan Fournier had 13 for the Magic, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 17 points. Joe Johnson finished with 13.

Brooklyn hasn't won at home since a 100-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 10. The Nets' team record is 14 straight home losses set in 2009-10, when they finished 12-70 while playing in New Jersey.

THUNDER 117, LAKERS 113

LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook had 36 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Oklahoma City barely survived Lou Williams' 44-point performance for a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kevin Durant scored 24 points in the Thunder's 15th victory in 18 games and their seventh straight win over the lowly Lakers, but Williams put an extraordinary scare into them.

Williams scored 23 of his career-high output in the fourth quarter for the Lakers, who avoided a third straight blowout loss to the Thunder in three weeks. Williams had all but five of the Lakers' points during a frenetic fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant had 19 points while playing in back-to-back games despite an ailing right shoulder, but missed a potential tying shot over Durant with 4 seconds to play.