Kawhi Leonard on Thursday scored 29 points as the San Antonio Spurs preserved their 100 percent record at home this season with a 109-101 win over the Chicago Bulls.
The Spurs were given some anxious moments when Chicago cut San Antonio’s lead from 10 points to 90-87 with 8 minutes, 36 seconds to play, but the hosts rallied again to notch their 31st home win of the season. A tip-in dunk from Danny Green and a jumper by Tony Parker allowed San Antonio to pull clear at 104-92, leaving the Spurs to close out a deserved victory at the AT&T Center.
San Antonio have now won 40 straight regular-season home games, including the latter part of last season, the fourth-best unbeaten home run in NBA history.
Photo: AFP
The Golden State Warriors hold the record for most consecutive home victories, standing at 46 dating back to the 2014-2015 campaign.
French star Parker chipped in with 20 points and a season-best 12 assists for San Antonio, who improved to 55-10.
Parker said the Spurs had benefited from a two-day rest following their road trip, adding that the performance augured well for the playoffs.
“I felt good — I felt like I had my legs tonight,” Parker said. “In the first half I was looking to pass more, but in the second half I wanted to be more aggressive so I took three or four jump shots to start the third quarter.”
“We are getting closer and closer to the post-season and this game definitely had a playoff feel to it,” he added.
For the Bulls, Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol both scored 21 points each, while E’Twaun Moore added 20 points.
The match also marked another milestone for Tim Duncan, who became the sixth player in NBA history to amass 15,000 rebounds. Duncan’s mark came with 6 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first quarter when Mike Dunleavy Jr missed a jump shot. It was Duncan’s second record in a matter of weeks, following his 3,000th career block on Feb. 27.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich returned to the bench after missing the previous two games with a “family medical emergency.” Popovich missed the trip to Indiana and Minnesota, which finished 1-1.
Chicago were left fuming at coughing up 21 turnovers, which proved costly, with San Antonio scoring 16 points as a result.
“You shoot yourself in the foot giving up so many extra opportunities,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg.
“We just tried to go down and hit home runs when we gotta go down and make the right play,” Hoiberg added. “When you turn the ball over and don’t get a shot up on the board, [San Antonio] is going to make you pay for it.”
RAPTORS 104, HAWKS 96
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and five rebounds to help Toronto beat Atlanta.
Toronto turned the ball over nine times before the game was 13 minutes old, but did a much better job of holding onto it the rest of the way in winning their second straight and 14th of 15 at home.
Kyle Lowry had 19 points and seven assists for the Raptors, and Luis Scola had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Al Horford led Atlanta with 20 points.
Cavaliers 120, Lakers 108
In Los Angeles, LeBron James scored 24 points while sharing a court with Kobe Bryant for the final time, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 120-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryant had 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting in an entertaining farewell duel between two of the greatest players in NBA history.
Bryant, who is to retire after the season, ignored his constantly sore right shoulder to make sure he did not miss his 22nd meeting with James on an NBA court, albeit never in the playoffs.
After starting the night with a pregame chat and hug with the crowd on its collective feet just to watch pregame warmups, Bryant and James both had vintage individual moments in the final edition of this friendly rivalry.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and Channing Frye had 21 for the Cavaliers, who have won on the first two stops of their four-game west coast road trip.
NUGGETS 116, SUNS 98
In Denver, Colorado, Emmanuel Mudiay scored a career-high 30 points in a matchup of rookie guards as Denver beat Phoenix for their third straight victory.
Nikola Jokic added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Will Barton had 17 points and eight rebounds.
Phoenix rookie Devin Booker had a career-high 35 points in the loss. Booker scored 25 points in the second half when the Suns made a run to briefly lead.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and