SAN ANTONIO (AP) Gregg Popovich became the winningest coach with a single franchise in NBA history, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 121-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.
Popovich earned his 1,128th victory to pass former Utah coach Jerry Sloan for the mark.
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 19 points in San Antonio’s final home game before playing eight games on the road during its annual rodeo road trip. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker each added 18 points for the Spurs.
Jamal Murray scored 20 points off the bench and Nikola Jokic had 11 in 15 minutes for Denver, which was playing the second game of a back-to-back and fourth in five nights. The arduous schedule seemed to catch up with them in the second half. San Antonio opened the third quarter on a 21-7 run.
HEAT 125, 76ERS 102
MIAMI (AP) – Hassan Whiteside scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, Dion Waiters needed only 10 shots to score 21 points and the Miami Heat pushed their winning streak to 10 games with an easy win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Whiteside had a double-double after the first 9:38, and posted the first 30-20 game of his career even while sitting out the fourth quarter. He played just 27 minutes.
Goran Dragic had 16 points and eight assists for Miami, and Tyler Johnson also scored 16. The 10-game streak is the longest current one in the NBA, and ties Houston for the second-longest in the league this season. Golden State won 12 straight in November.
Ersan Ilyasova scored 21 for Philadelphia, which was without Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington. Embiid missed his fifth straight game with a left knee problem, and Okafor sat with right knee soreness. Covington has a right hand contusion.
KINGS 109, WARRIORS 106, OT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Draymond Green missed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc at the final buzzer and DeMarcus Cousins scored six of his 32 points in overtime and overcame several key mistakes as the Sacramento Kings’ snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Golden State Warriors.
Stephen Curry’s layup attempt with 4.9 seconds left clanked off the rim and the two-time reigning NBA MVP also missed a short jumper with 6.9 seconds left, but finished with 35. But Cousins failed to corral the rebound and the ball went out of bounds at the baseline to the Warriors for one more try with 6.2 ticks remaining.
Darren Collison scored 18 points and the bench added 45 for Sacramento.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected with 3:34 left in the third and had to be held back near midcourt by assistant coach Mike Brown as the reigning NBA Coach of the Year moved toward official Bill Spooner.
PACERS 105, PISTONS 84
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Paul George scored 21 points, helping the Indiana Pacers extend their season-best winning streak to six games with a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Lavoy Allen had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, replacing an injured Thaddeus Young, who sat out with a sprained left wrist. Myles Turner, CJ Miles and Al Jefferson all finished with 13 points for Indiana.
Indiana took control of the game during a 20-5 run in the third quarter. A 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter would prove to be too much to overcome for the Pistons.
Marcus Morris led Detroit with 19 points. Jon Leuer added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Andre Drummond had 13 points and nine rebounds.
CAVALIERS 111, KNICKS 104
NEW YORK (AP) – LeBron James had 32 points and 10 assists, Kevin Love added 23 points and 16 rebounds in his return from back spasms, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks.
The Cavaliers won for the ninth straight time against the Knicks and didn’t even need Kyrie Irving, who didn’t play because of right quadriceps soreness.
Love was back after missing two games and showed why the NBA champions may have no reason to entertain the trade rumors involving him and Carmelo Anthony that surround the teams.
Brandon Jennings had 23 points and 10 assists in place of point guard Derrick Rose, who missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left ankle. Anthony and Courtney Lee each added 17 points.
James became the youngest player to surpass 28,000 points in leading the Cavs to their seventh straight win at Madison Square Garden.
JAZZ 105, HORNETS 98
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Gordon Hayward scored 33 points and the Utah Jazz rallied to defeat the Charlotte Hornets.
The Jazz erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit with big contributions from Hayward, George Hill and Joe Johnson. A 19-4 run was capped by Johnson’s 3-pointer from the corner that gave the Jazz a 103-96 lead with 59 seconds remaining. Hayward put on a show with a variety of step-backs and pull-ups and Johnson was a playmaker down the stretch. Hill finished with 25, including five 3-pointers.
The Hornets put on a shooting clinic from behind the arc in the third quarter, but went cold in the fourth and scored just 16 points.
Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 18 points, and Marvin Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Frank Kaminsky finished with 15 points.
HAWKS 113, MAGIC 86
ATLANTA (AP) – Paul Millsap scored 21 points, all in the first three quarters, and the Atlanta Hawks never trailed in their runaway win over the Orlando Magic.
Tim Hardaway Jr. also had 21 points for Atlanta. Hardaway continued to make the most of his chance to start as Thabo Sefolosha missed his fourth straight game with a groin injury.
Millsap, Dennis Schroder and Dwight Howard sat out the fourth quarter. Schroder had 17 points and 10 assists.
Aaron Gordon led Orlando with 16 points. Elfrid Payton had 10 as Orlando’s only other starter to score in double figures.
The Hawks have won three of four and 15 of 20 to move to a season-high nine games over .500 at 30-21.
WIZARDS 105, PELICANS 91
WASHINGTON (AP) – John Wall had 24 points and 13 assists, Markieff Morris scored 18 points and the Washington Wizards held New Orleans scoreless for the final 5:52 of the fourth quarter to beat the Pelicans for their seventh straight win.
Washington has its longest winning streak since a seven-game stretch from Jan. 2-15, 2005. The Wizards extended their home winning streak to 17 games, second-longest in franchise history.
Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead New Orleans, which lost its fourth straight. The Pelicans were held scoreless after Tyreke Evans hit a 3-pointer to take a 91-90 lead with 5:52 to play.
Morris’ dunk 12 seconds later put the Wizards ahead and started a game-closing 15-0 run.
The Wizards (30-20) moved 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014-15 season.
GRIZZLIES 107, TIMBERWOLVES 99
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – JaMychal Green scored a career-high 29 points and the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies grinded out a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Mike Conley added 20 points and eight assists for the Grizzlies, who rested Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Chandler Parsons on the second night of a back-to-back. The Grizzlies scored 21 points off of 13 turnovers by Minnesota and only turned it over 10 times.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three straight after showing some signs of life. The Wolves led by 18 points in the first half, but were outworked the rest of the way on a day they lost Zach LaVine for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
BUCKS 137, SUNS 112
PHOENIX (AP) – Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points to lead six Milwaukee players in double figures and the Bucks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Phoenix Suns in their highest-scoring game of the season.
Devin Booker, whose 20-foot bank shot at the buzzer beat the Kings in Sacramento on Friday night, scored 31 points for the Suns, 27 during a blistering final 7:13 of the first half.
The Bucks shredded the Suns’ defense, shooting 63 percent while setting season highs for most points in a quarter, half and game.
Ex-Sun Mirza Teletovic added 19 points and Jabari Parker had 18 for the Bucks in just their second win in the last 12 games.
Rookie Marquese Chriss scored a career-high 27 points for Phoenix.
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