Clippers erupt in third period, pull away in win over Wizards
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, James Harden added 25 and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away with a big third quarter to beat the Washington Wizards 125-109 on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles outscored Washington 40-19 in the third after leading by 10 in the first half.
Harden’s pullup 3 from the top of the arc stretched the lead to 20 for the first time with 5:42 left in the period. Later, Leonard’s emphatic dunk off a driving, spinning feed from Russell Westbrook pushed it 25, and Norman Powell’s basket made it 106-79 at the end of the third.
Leonard and Harden each had nine rebounds. And Harden hit five 3-pointers to help the Clippers snap out of a longrange shooting slump on a night they rested eighttime All-star Paul George because of groin soreness.
CAVALIERS 128, PISTONS 121
Donovan Mitchell scored 20 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, Darius Garland had 19 points in his return from a broken jaw and Cleveland held off Nba-worst Detroit.
Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 14 points. Cleveland won for the 11th time in 12 games and is an Nba-best 16-4 since Dec. 16.
BULLS 117, HORNETS 110
Coby White scored 35 points, Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Chicago sent Charlotte to its fifth straight loss.
Ayo Dosunmu added 16 points for Chicago.
Miles Bridges had 30 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte.
HEAT 115, KINGS 106
Jimmy Butler scored 31 points and the Miami Heat snapped a seven-game skid with a victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Butler shot 10 of 14 from the field and had seven rebounds for the Heat, who ended their longest losing streak since dropping 15 straight during the 200708 season. Josh Richardson was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with a season-high 24 points. Bam Adebayo added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
PELICANS 110, ROCKETS 99
Jonas Valanciunas scored 25 points, Brandon Ingram added 24 and the duo combined for 24 rebounds to help the New Orleans Pelicans snap a three-game skid with a win over the Houston Rockets.
New Orleans led by five to start the fourth quarter before scoring the next 15 points to make it 99-79 with just under 6 1/2 minutes remaining. Jose Alvarado hit a 3-pointer during that stretch and Valanciunas had six points to help the Pelicans pad their lead.
MAGIC 108, SPURS 98
Paolo Banchero scored 25 points, Franz Wagner added 20 and the Orlando Magic held on to beat the San Antonio Spurs.
Devin Vassell had 26 points and Victor Wembanyama 21 for San Antonio, which has lost its last two.
TIMBERWOLVES 121, MAVERICKS 87
Karl-anthony Towns had 29 points and nine rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a victory over the depleted Dallas Mavericks, who played without stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Rudy Gobert scored 17 points for the West-leading Wolves (34-14). They endured a sluggish start until Towns sparked their surge with two 3-pointers in the last 35 seconds of the first half to give them the lead for good. Towns had 11 points in the third quarter.