Los Angeles Clippers 108 Cleveland Cavaliers 78
LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin scored 23 points and the Los Angeles Clippers (41-29) took advantage on the Cavaliers’ decision to rest LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love with an easy win over Cleveland (45-23) on Saturday night. J.J. Redick added 16 points. Jamal Crawford and DeAndre Jordan each contributed with 13 points. Richard Jefferson led the Cavaliers in the scoring department with 12 points.
Chicago Bulls 95 Utah Jazz 86
CHICAGO – Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Bobby Portis added a career-high 22 and the Bulls took down the Jazz (43-27) on Saturday night. Denzel Valentine had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and hit consecutive 3-pointers with just over seven minutes remaining in the game to give Chicago (33-37) a lead it would not relinquish. George Hill scored 18 points for Utah (43-27), while Gordon Hayward had 14. Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double (13 points and 13 rebounds). He also recorded five blocks on the night. Chicago trails Miami by 1 1/2 games for the final spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Jazz are still the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Portland Trail Blazers 113 Atlanta Hawks 97
ATLANTA – Damian Lillard scored 27 points and the Portland Trail Blazers (31-37) took control with a dominant first quarter to beat the Atlanta Hawks (37-32) on Saturday night. C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) had 22 points and Allen Crabbe added 16 on the night. The Blazers have won seven of their last nine. Portland, which has won seven of nine, began the night 2 1/2 games behind Denver for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. Ersan Ilyasova had 23 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 for Atlanta.
Charlotte Hornets 98 Washington Wizards 93
CHARLOTTE – Cody Zeller led the Hornets with 19 points as the Charlotte Hornets (30-39) defeat the Washington Wizards (42-27) last night. Marvin Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Kemba Walker also recorded 16 points. Eight of his points came in the fourth quarter. Charlotte is four games back of Miami for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs with only 13 games remaining. John Wall had 19 points and eight assists for the Wizards, and Bradley Beal added 18 points on the night.
Oklahoma City Thunder 110 Sacramento Kings 94
OKLAHOMA CITY – Russell Westbrook had 28 points, eight rebounds and ten assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder (40-29) roll past the Sacramento Kings (27-42) on Saturday. Oklahoma City has the longest current winning streak in the NBA as they are still in sixth place in the Western Conference. Georgios Papagiannis recorded a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds) for Sacramento.
Houston Rockets 109 Denver Nuggets 105
DENVER – James Harden finished with a triple-double (40 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) as the Houston Rockets (48-22) snapped the Denver Nuggets’ (33-36) four-game winning streak Saturday night. Clint Capela added 16 points on the night. He also finished with eight rebounds. Gary Harris led the Nuggets in the scoring department with 17 points. Nikola Jokic finished with 16 points. He also recorded five rebounds and four assists.
Golden State Warriors 117 Milwaukee Bucks 92
GOLDEN STATE – Stephen Curry scored 28 points with six 3-pointers and the Golden State Warriors (55-14) beat the Milwaukee Bucks (34-35) on Saturday night. Draymond Green contributed eight points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, and Klay Thompson scored 21 points. Malcolm Brogdon scored 18 points while Greg Monroe had 12 points with seven boards for Milwaukee. The Bucks, playing the second half of a back-to-back, lost for the second time in 10 games.
Memphis Grizzlies 104 San Antonio Spurs 96
MEMPHIS – Mike Conley had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Zach Randolph added 18 points and the Grizzlies (40-30) extended their winning streak to four with a big victory over the Spurs (52-16) on Saturday. Marc Gasol finished with 16 points and seven assists for Memphis, while JaMychal Green scored 13. The Grizzlies shot 42 percent, but converted 13 of 30 from outside the arc. Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 22 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and nine rebounds. Jonathon Simmons added 14 points for San Antonio.
Leave a Reply