San Antonio Spurs recovered in time to overcome Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 in Inglewood, California, on Monday night. Victor Wembanyama scored 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead.
Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.
Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.
Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs’ reserves 57-30.
Doncic steers LA Lakers past Houston Rockets
In Houston, Luka Doncic steered Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-92 victory over the Houston Rockets in the opener of a two-game series between teams fighting for Western Conference playoff position. Doncic scored 36 points.
Los Angeles moved 1-1/2 games ahead of Houston for third in the West standings. There were 13 lead changes in a game that had a playoff atmosphere, but the Lakers ultimately won their sixth straight.
LeBron James found Marcus Smart for a corner 3-pointer that put Los Angeles up 94-90 with 2 minutes remaining. James finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Doncic hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fading minutes of the third quarter to give the Lakers an 83-80 lead after trailing 57-51 at halftime. Doncic was 4 for 12 on 3s in the game and needs 11 more to match D’Angelo Russell’s franchise record of 226 in a season.
Chicago Bulls gore Memphis Grizzlies
Chicago Bulls ran Memphis Grizzlies ragged in a 32-107 win at home. This was Grizzlies eighth straight loss. Josh Giddey had 16 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for his fourth triple-double in five games.
Giddey is third in the NBA with 12 triple-doubles this season, trailing Nikola Jokic (27) of the Denver Nuggets and Jalen Johnson (13) of the Atlanta Hawks. Giddey averages 17.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists, all career highs. The fifth-year guard has been limited to 46 games this season by hamstring and ankle injuries.
Matas Buzelis led the Bulls with 29 points, including five 3-pointers. The second year forward, who was the 11th pick in the 2024 draft, has logged three of the four highest-scoring totals of his career in just the last three weeks.
Tre Jones added 17 points and Rob Dillingham had 15 off the bench for the Bulls, who started a four-game homestand by winning for just the fifth time in their last 23 games. The Bulls, who are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and six games out of the last play-in spot, outscored the Grizzlies 71-50 in the second half.
Pelicans down Mavericks
In New Orleans, Zion Williamson was unstoppable as he scored 27 points to help New Orleans Pelicans defeat Dallas Mavericks 129-111. Saddiq Bey had 23 points, while Jeremiah Fears and Trey Murphy III each added 17 to help the Pelicans win for the eighth time in 12 games.
Naji Marshall scored 32 points for the Mavs against his former team. Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, the top pick in the 2025 draft, had 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Williamson made 11 of 13 shots in 28 minutes. Often injured during his first six seasons since being drafted first overall out of Duke in 2019, Williamson has played in 52 games in his seventh NBA campaign, averaging 21.5 points.
Jaylen Brown shines for Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown had 18 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and Jayson Tatum scored 21 to help Boston Celtics defeat Phoenix Suns 120-112 at home. Devin Booker scored 40 for the Suns, who have lost back-to-back games after snapping a four-game winning streak. Jalen Green scored 21 for Phoenix.
Derrick White, who was presented with February’s Eastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month Award before the game, had 21 points for Boston, and Payton Pritchard scored 19.
Boston trailed by three points, 111-108, with less than four minutes left before Brown stole the ball from Booker and fed it to Tatum for a layup. After a Phoenix miss, Brown rebounded Tatum’s miss to give Boston the lead and then added two free throws and a short jumper to complete an 8-0 Celtics run.
Trail Blazers cruise to 114-95 win
In New York, Portland Trail Blazers, riding on Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara’s 18 points each, cruised to a 114-95 victory over Brooklyn Nets. Donovan Clingan finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds and reserve Scoot Henderson had 16 points for the Blazers, who never trailed and led by as many as 31.
Nic Claxton had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Nets, who have lost four consecutive games and 14 of 16. Leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. (ankle) missed his third straight game and Noah Clowney (rest) was held out.
Claxton recorded his 11th double-double of the season and 87th of his career, passing Sam Bowie for eighth-most in franchise history.
Hawks roll past Magic 124-112
Atlanta Hawks rolled past Orlando Magic 124-112 as Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a career-high 41 points and Jalen Johnson had his 13th triple-double of the season. The Hawks improved to 38-31 and reclaimed eighth place in the Eastern Conference, bumping Philadelphia back to ninth.
Johnson had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists in his second straight triple double. Dyson Daniels added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Alexander-Walker scored 24 points in the first half, helping Atlanta to a 67-50 lead at halftime. Alexander-Walker’s previous career high was 38 points against the Spurs earlier this season.
