NEW YORK — LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points apiece to lead five San Antonio players in double figures as the Spurs turned a tight game into a runaway with a dominating third quarter and beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-110 Thursday to remain unbeaten at home.
San Antonio led by two points at halftime but separated from the Trail Blazers in the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points and opening as much as a 19-point lead.
Leonard, who was limited to six points in the first half when he took three shots, scored 11 points in the Spurs’ uprising and the quarter ended with San Antonio holding a 95-78 advantage to make the final period all but academic.
The Spurs (58-10) are 34-0 at the AT&T Center and have also won a franchise-best 43 straight regular-season games at home since a loss to Cleveland in March of last season.
San Antonio’s streak is the third-longest in NBA history, behind Chicago’s 44-game regular-season home run in 1995-96 and the continuing streak by Golden State (50 games) and is second all-time in NBA history for the longest home winning streaks to start a season (37, set by the Bulls in 1995-96).
Tony Parker added 18 points and a season-high 16 assists for San Antonio while reserve Patty Mills scored 17 points and Tim Duncan hit for 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Spurs.
Portland was led by C.J McCollum’s 26 points and Damian Lillard added 23 points for the Trail Blazers. Chris Kaman and Mason Plumlee scored 12 points apiece for Portland and Gerald Henderson added 10 points for Portland.
Jazz 103, Suns 69
Rookie Trey Lyles scored 17 points off the bench and Utah won its fourth straight game by obliterating Phoenix.
Utah improved to 33-35 and moved within one game of idle Dallas and Houston for the final playoff spot in the West despite playing without leading scorer Gordon Hayward for the second straight game.
Bucks 96, Grizzlies 86
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and Greg Monroe added 14 as Milwaukee extended Memphis’ losing streak to four games with a victory at the Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo, who remains Milwaukee’s primary ball-handler, once again flirted with a triple-double by finishing with 11 assists and six rebounds while adding three blocks. But thanks to the surprisingly strong play of Milwaukee’s second unit, he never even got the chance and watched from the bench as the Bucks’ reserves took over in the final quarter.
Hawks 116, Nuggets 98
Six victories in seven games has defending Southeast Division champion Atlanta back in first place.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 points in his first start to lead eight double-figure scorers as the Hawks defeated Denver.
The victory moved the Hawks a half-game ahead of Miami and Charlotte after the Hornets defeated the Heat.
Elsewhere it was: Hornets 109, Heat 106; Bulls 118, Nets 102; Raptors 101, Pacers 94 (OT); Wizards 99, 76ers 94.
