Dejounte Murray collected 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as host San Antonio held off the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 117-110 on Monday in a milestone result for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
The win was No. 1,335 in the regular season for Popovich, allowing him to tie Don Nelson for the NBA record.
San Antonio was up by three points heading to the fourth quarter and never allowed the Lakers to get the lead, surviving a ragged final four minutes and a woeful 16-of-30 showing from the free-throw line to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Lakers, who have lost five of their past six games, were without LeBron James, who was held out with a sore left knee after scoring 56 points in a win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Jakob Poeltl and Josh Richardson scored 18 points each for San Antonio. Talen Horton-Tucker led Los Angeles with 18 points.
Nuggets 131, Warriors 124
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for his second triple-double in as many nights as host Denver beat short-handed Golden State.
Jeff Green and Monte Morris scored 18 points each for the Nuggets, who have won nine of 10. Jordan Poole had 32 points and rookie Moses Moody scored a career-high 30 for the Warriors, who have lost five straight.
Golden State was without Stephen Curry (hand), Klay Thompson (Achilles), Draymond Green (back), Andrew Wiggins (foot), Andre Iguodala (back) and Otto Porter Jr. (illness) and Gary Payton II (knee). Denver played without Will Barton, who sprained his left ankle in the team’s overtime win against the visiting Pelicans on Sunday.
Knicks 131, Kings 115
Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley combined for 102 points and New York exploded for 83 in the second half en route to a come-from-behind triumph over host Sacramento.
Randle put up a career-high 46 points, Barrett chipped in with 29 and Quickley went for a season-high 27 off the bench. Their scoring allowed New York to earn a second win in as many days immediately after a seven-game losing streak.
De’Aaron Fox paced the Kings with 24 points to complement a game-high seven assists.
Pistons 113, Hawks 110 (OT)
Cade Cunningham scored seven of his game-high 28 points in overtime and Detroit notched its first three-game winning streak in three years by outlasting visiting Atlanta.
Cunningham also supplied 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds, while Jerami Grant had 23 points. Detroit’s last streak of three or more wins came in March 2019, when it won five straight. Marvin Bagley III had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Killian Hayes contributed 13 points and six assists for the Pistons.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led Atlanta with 22 points and totaled six assists. John Collins had 17 points and 11 rebounds, De’Andre Hunter tossed in 15 points and Danilo Gallinari added 14 points. Trae Young also had 14 points but shot 5-for-20 from the field while dishing out a team-high 12 assists.
Timberwolves 124, Trail Blazers 81
Karl-Anthony Towns collected 27 points and 13 rebounds to lift host Minnesota to a victory over Portland in Minneapolis.
Malik Beasley scored 19 points hours after being fined $35,000 by the NBA for making unnecessary and inappropriate contact with Portland’s Drew Eubanks in Saturday’s game. Naz Reid recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds and Jordan McLaughlin added 11 points to aid the Timberwolves in extending their winning streak to a season high-tying five games.
Brandon Williams collected 27 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Keon Johnson added 14 points off the bench for the Trail Blazers, who lost their fifth straight game.
Mavericks 111, Jazz 103
Luka Doncic amassed 35 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists as Dallas claimed its fifth straight win, beating visiting Utah.
The Mavericks held Donovan Mitchell, Utah’s leading scorer on the season with a 25.8-point average coming into Monday’s matchup, to 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the floor.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored 21 points and shot 4-for-10 from 3-point range for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie hit 5 of 9 from beyond the arc and scored 23 points, the fourth time he has scored at least 20 points in eight games since being acquired by Dallas in mid-February.
76ers 121, Bulls 106
Joel Embiid compiled 43 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots to lift host Philadelphia past Chicago, sending the Bulls to their fifth loss in a row.
Embiid finished with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds for the 10th time this season. James Harden added 16 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds for the 76ers, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Tyrese Maxey scored 17 points, Georges Niang added 14 and Matisse Thybulle had 12.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 24 points while DeMar DeRozan added 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Coby White contributed 19 points, Tristan Thompson had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Ayo Dosunmu scored 11 points.
Heat 123, Rockets 106
Tyler Herro scored 21 of his 31 points in the second quarter, helping host Miami down Houston. The Heat won for the 12th time in 14 games while the Rockets lost for the 17th time in 19 games.
The game marked the return of Miami’s Victor Oladipo, who played his first game since April 2021, having recovered from his second quadriceps surgery. Oladipo, who played 15 minutes off the bench, scored 11 points and added four assists.
The Heat also got 21 points from Jimmy Butler and 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds from Bam Adebayo. The Rockets were led by Kevin Porter Jr., who scored 22 points, and rookie Jalen Green, who added 20 points.
–Field Level Media
