LOS ANGELES — The San Antonio Spurs wore down the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-95 in an NBA heavyweight showdown Thursday and remained unbeaten at home — as did the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.
One night after enduring just their third defeat of the season, at Denver, the Warriors bounced back on their home floor in Oakland with a 116-98 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stephen Curry poured in eight three-pointers en route to 26 points, but it was aging Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant who drew the spotlight in his likely last appearance at Oracle Arena.
Bryant, battling a sore Achilles tendon, scored just eight points but departed to a standing ovation from Oakland spectators who don’t expect to see him again before he retires at the end of the season.
They had the luxury of enjoying this stop of his farewell tour, since Bryant’s Lakers never seriously threatened to halt Golden State’s home winning streak, which now includes 19 games this season and 37 overall dating back to last year.
San Antonio’s streak of dominance at home is almost as impressive. They improved to 23-0 at home in this campaign and have won 32 straight at the AT&T Center dating back to March 12 last year — when they fell in overtime to the Cavaliers.
Point guard Tony Parker scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half, helping the Spurs stay afloat in the face of a strong Cleveland start.
Kawhi Leonard took over after the interval, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half and also holding Cleveland superstar LeBron James to seven points after halftime.
“Kawhi made LeBron work for everything he had,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It was a heck of a win because we gave away the first quarter.”
Cleveland, who fell to 27-10, saw its eight-game winning streak snapped despite having all five starters score in double figures.
That started with 23 points from James, with center Tristan Thompson adding a season-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Cleveland opened the game with a 10-2 scoring run and led 32-20 after the first quarter.
They were up 50-44 at halftime, with the Spurs finally taking the lead for the first time, 57-55, with 7:50 left in the third when Leonard capped an 11-0 run with a three-pointer.
From there it was a back-and-forth battle until the Spurs seized the lead for good less than two minutes into the final period.
Raptors 106, Magic 103 (OT)
Point guard Kyle Lowry scored 24 points as the Toronto Raptors posted a 106-103 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday at the O2 Arena in London.
Backup point guard Cory Joseph scored 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors. The victory was the fourth straight for Toronto.
Bulls 115, 76ers 111 (OT)
Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 53 points and E’Twaun Moore had seven of his 14 in overtime as the Chicago Bulls rallied for a 115-111 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Butler, 15-for-30 from the floor and 21-for-25 from the foul line, added 10 rebounds and six assists for the Bulls, who rested Pau Gasol and were without Derrick Rose (tendinitis, left knee).
Grizzlies 103, Pistons 101
Mario Chalmers scored a game-high 25 points with eight assists and hit the game-winning basket as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Detroit Pistons 103-101 at FedExForum.
Down 101-96 after Detroit rookie forward Stanley Johnson hit his fifth three-pointer of the night with 3:07 to play, Chalmers scored the Grizzlies’ last seven points for the victory.
His game-winning shot came when he picked up a loose ball and fired off-balance with 00.8 left on the clock.
Kings 103, Jazz 101
Rudy Gay saved the day for the Sacramento Kings, hitting a game-winning jumper with less than a second remaining for a 103-101 win over the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz had worked out of a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes and finally tied the game with four seconds remaining on a three-pointer by backup forward Joe Ingles. — Agencies
