Devin Vassell, Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama each scored 23 points as the visiting San Antonio Spurs ended a three-game losing streak with a 126-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday in the return to play for both teams.
The Lakers had two home games postponed in the past week, including a game against the Spurs scheduled for Saturday, as a safety precaution because of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The Spurs defeated the Lakers for the first time in three games between the teams this season, outscoring Los Angeles 73-40 in the second half.
Anthony Davis amassed 30 points and 13 rebounds and LeBron James added 18 points and eight assists as Lakers lost their third consecutive game, all to Texas teams. Los Angeles fell at Houston and at Dallas on its recent road trip.
Austin Reaves scored 12 points and dished out eight assists for Los Angeles, which led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter before falling apart over the final 16 minutes of the game.
Clippers 109, Heat 98
Norman Powell scored 29 points while James Harden and Ivica Zubac chalked up double-doubles as Los Angeles overturned an early 13-point deficit to beat Miami in Inglewood, Calif., in LA’s first game since last Wednesday because of the wildfires.
Harden had 26 points with 11 assists while hitting 6 of 10 3-point attempts, and Zubac threw down seven dunks en route to 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Clippers, whose home game against the Charlotte Hornets scheduled for last Saturday was postponed.
The Heat, whose three-game winning streak (all on the road) came to an end, received 32 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from Tyler Herro plus 19 points and 13 boards from Kel’el Ware.
Timberwolves 120, Wizards 106
Anthony Edwards took control in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his game-high 41 points, and Minnesota sent host Washington to its seventh consecutive loss.
Minnesota found itself in a back-and-forth contest for most of the way with Washington, which was playing its second game of a back-to-back set. The Wizards dropped their previous two games by 74 combined points, but they were competitive with the Timberwolves until a pivotal late stretch.
With Minnesota up 88-86, Edwards connected on a 3-pointer with 8:42 remaining. But Washington’s Carlton Carrington answered with one of his own 18 seconds later. The Wizards did not score again for 2:26, however, as Minnesota went on a decisive 11-0 run.
Raptors 104, Warriors 101
Toronto overcame a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit, scoring the game’s final six points, to end a five-game losing streak with a win over visiting Golden State.
After Kyle Anderson’s 3-pointer put the Warriors up 101-98 with 2:34 to go, the Raptors scored on Chris Boucher’s putback layup and a pair of baskets by Ochai Agbaji.
Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins and Buddy Hield both missed 3-point attempts in the final 30 seconds as the Warriors fell to 1-4 in their last five.
Pistons 124, Knicks 119
Malik Beasley drained two 3-pointers in the final minute to put the game away for visiting Detroit, which held off a fourth-quarter rally by New York.
Cade Cunningham scored 29 of his game-high 36 points for the Pistons, who won for the 10th time in 12 games. Beasley finished with 22 points off the bench while going 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
Jalen Brunson (31 points, 11 assists), Karl-Anthony Towns (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Josh Hart (12 points, 14 rebounds) all posted double-doubles for the Knicks, who lost for the fifth time in seven games. Mikal Bridges finished with 27 points.
Rockets 120, Grizzlies 118
Jalen Green matched his career high with 42 points and Houston came back from down 13 in the fourth quarter to defeat visiting Memphis.
Down 100-87 with 9:55 to play, the Rockets stormed back. Houston claimed a 107-105 lead on a Fred VanVleet 3-pointer with 4:33 left, keying a white-knuckle finish. There were seven lead changes and two ties in the fourth quarter. Green seized the lead for Houston on a driving layup with 33.8 seconds left.
Houston made 16 of 31 from behind the arc and shot 50.6 percent overall. Ja Morant paced the Grizzlies with 29 points but committed seven turnovers. Memphis shot 52.9 percent.
–Field Level Media
