MINNEAPOLIS — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and the San Antonio Spurs improved to 13-0 on the road this season with a 105-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. ADVERTISING MINNEAPOLIS — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and
MINNEAPOLIS — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and the San Antonio Spurs improved to 13-0 on the road this season with a 105-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Leonard hit 11 of 15 shots after not scoring at all in the first quarter and Patty Mills scored 15 points off the bench for the Spurs (18-4), who played without Tony Parker after he bruised his left knee against Milwaukee on Wednesday night. San Antonio overcame a slow start to shoot 52.7 percent.
The Spurs moved past the 1969-70 New York Knicks to take sole possession of the second-best road start to begin a season in NBA history. The Golden State Warriors started 14-0 last year.
Zach LaVine scored 25 points for the Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns had 11 points and 14 rebounds, but shot just 3 of 16.
KNICKS 114, HEAT 103
MIAMI — Carmelo Anthony matched a season high with 35 points, and New York beat injury-ravaged Miami for its fourth straight victory.
Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and 12 rebounds for New York, which is three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2012-13 season. The Knicks lost Derrick Rose to back spasms in the third quarter.
Goran Dragic scored 29 points and Hassan Whiteside finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Heat, who fell to 2-8 at home.
The teams were tied at 68 late in the third quarter, when the Knicks went on a 27-13 run over the next eight minutes to take control. Anthony finished 13 for 27 from the field, and Porzingis and Joakim Noah combined for 22 rebounds.
MAGIC 124, WIZARDS 116
WASHINGTON — Elfrid Payton scored 22 of his career-high 25 points in the first half and Orlando overcame John Wall’s 52-point performance to beat Washington.
Wall had the highest-scoring game of his career and kept Washington in it with 33 points in the second half as the Wizards cut the lead below 10 in the fourth quarter. The guard made 18 of 31 from the field and added eight assists.
Payton went 8 for 8 from the field and 3 for 3 from the line off the bench in that first half, nearly matching his previous season best of 23 points in the first two quarters alone. Payton finished 9 for 12 and handed out nine assists.
Orlando won its third straight game and its 124 points were a season high.
PISTONS 102, BULLS 91
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Tobias Harris scored 22 points and Detroit beat Chicago.
Andre Drummond added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the fourth time in five games.
Jimmy Butler scored 32 points and Dwyane Wade added 19 points and seven assists for Chicago, which lost its third straight. The Bulls were playing their fourth game in five nights and struggled in the fourth quarter.
Rajon Rondo had 10 points in his return to the Chicago lineup.
GRIZZLIES 96, 76ERS 91
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Marc Gasol had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Memphis finally put away short-handed Philadelphia.
Memphis scored the game’s final seven points to erase Philadelphia’s lead with less than 2 minutes left, sending the Sixers to their eighth straight loss.
JaMychal Green had 13 points and 10 rebounds, including a pair of free throws with 4 seconds left to seal the Grizzlies’ fourth straight win and 10th in the last 13.
Ersan Ilyasova had season bests of 23 points and 17 rebounds for Philadelphia. Dario Saric scored 17 points, while Nik Stauskas added 12 points, despite missing seven of his eight shots from outside the arc.
The Sixers led 91-89 with 1:57 remaining, but Zach Randolph, who had 12 points and 14 rebounds, scored inside and Memphis made enough free throws in the closing minutes.
JAZZ 112, SUNS 105
SALT LAKE CITY — Gordon Hayward scored 28 points and Utah held on to beat Phoenix for its seventh victory in eight games.
Rudy Gobert scored a career-high 22 points and had 11 rebounds and blocked four shots for the Jazz, who recovered after the Suns erased their big lead to tie it at 103.
Hayward had 11 third-quarter points to reach 20-plus points for the ninth consecutive game — the first Jazz player to do so since Carlos Boozer in 2007-08.
The Jazz sprinted out to a 25-10 lead thanks to an 8-0 run and never trailed. They led 65-45 at halftime after Hayward’s pull-up 3-pointer highlighted a half-closing 11-2 stretch. The 65 points matched a Jazz season high for a half.
Devin Booker scored 21 points for the Suns.
