NBA Roundup: Spurs’ Gregg Popovich Rises to No. 2 in Wins

Save

2/17/2022Updated: 2/17/2022

Keldon Johnson 22 points to lead the Spurs to a 114–106 win over the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, a milestone victory for San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

The win was No. 1,333 in Popovich’s 26-year, head-coaching career—all in San Antonio—moving him past Lenny Wilkens for second place in NBA history. Only Don Nelson (1,335) remains ahead of Popovich.

The Spurs enter the All-Star break having won three of their past four while the Thunder go into the break having lost six of their past seven.

Jakob Poeltl added 20 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs, who had six players with 15 or more points. Tre Mann scored 24 points while Theo Maledon had a season-high 22 for the Thunder, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Suns 124, Rockets 121

Devin Booker recorded 24 points and eight assists and Phoenix survived the ejection of Chris Paul to rally for a victory over visiting Houston.

Deandre Ayton added 23 points and nine rebounds for the Suns, who won their seventh straight game. Paul was ejected after making contact with official J.T. Orr—apparently inadvertently—late in the third quarter.

Dennis Schroder had 23 points and nine assists and Jae'Sean Tate added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, which lost its sixth straight. Eric Gordon missed a 3-point attempt as time expired.

Hawks 130, Magic 109

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and visiting Atlanta used an exceptional 3-point shooting performance to defeat Orlando in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.

Atlanta raced to a 72–53 halftime lead by sinking 13 of 19 3-point attempts. Trae Young was 4-for-4 on long-range attempts prior to the break and Bogdanovic came off the bench to hit four treys in a little over 12 minutes.

The Hawks led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter. Cole Anthony put up 23 points for the Magic, who lost their fourth game in a row.

Nets 111, Knicks 106

Rookie Cam Thomas scored 16 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Brooklyn stormed back from a 28-point deficit and earned a wild victory over New York.

The Nets’ rally matched the largest in franchise history. Brooklyn also escaped a 28-point hole to win at Sacramento on March 19, 2019.

Julius Randle scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half for the Knicks, who fell to 3–13 in their past 16 games.

Nuggets 117, Warriors 116

Monte Morris turned a Nikola Jokic assist into a walk-off 3-pointer as Denver rallied from behind to stun Golden State in San Francisco in the first-half finale for both teams.

After leading by as many as 16 points, the Warriors put themselves in a position to win when Stephen Curry turned a short jumper into a three-point play and a 116–114 lead with 5.9 seconds remaining. But the Nuggets, after advancing the ball with a timeout, inbounded to Jokic on the low left block, who spotted Morris open on the right wing for his game-winner.

Curry led a balanced attack with 25 points for the Warriors. Jokic led the Nuggets with 35 points.

Trail Blazers 123, Grizzlies 119

Jusuf Nurkic scored 14 of his season-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, Anfernee Simons hit 5 of 10 3-point attempts en route to 31 points, and visiting Portland snapped Memphis’ six-game winning streak.

Josh Hart, acquired in a trade from New Orleans last week, scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Hart has at least 22 in each of his first three games since joining the Portland lineup.

With Ja Morant scoring a season-high 44 points and Desmond Bane adding 30 points, Memphis chipped away at the deficit.

Bulls 125, Kings 118

DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points and Coby White added a season-high 31 to help host Chicago stretch its winning streak to five games with a victory against Sacramento.

DeRozan posted at least 35 points on 50 percent shooting or better for the seventh straight game, an NBA record. He finished 16-for-27 from the field while extending to eight his career-high streak of 30-point games.

De'Aaron Fox had 33 points to lead Sacramento, which has lost two straight and three of five entering the All-Star break. Domantas Sabonis contributed 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Lakers 106, Jazz 101

LeBron James scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles overcame an injury to Anthony Davis and emerged with a victory over visiting Utah.

Davis scored 17 points in just 17 minutes, leaving with three minutes remaining in the first half when he rolled his right ankle. He did not return. Russell Westbrook also had 17 points for Los Angeles, which ended a three-game losing streak.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 of his 37 points in the first half for the Jazz, who led by 12 points with 6:35 remaining. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 15 points for the Jazz, whose six-game winning streak ended.

Pacers 113, Wizards 108

Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 14 assists to lead a balanced attack as Indiana snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over Washington in Indianapolis.

Terry Taylor scored all of his 18 points in the second half for Indiana, which won for the first time since Jan. 31. Tristan Thompson and Oshae Brissett scored 17 points apiece.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope put 27 points for Washington, which has lost 10 of its past 13 games. Kyle Kuzma contributed 26 points and 15 rebounds.

Pistons 112, Celtics 111

Jerami Grant hit a game-winning jumper with 19.6 seconds left to cap a 24-point night and propel Detroit to a win over host Boston, which entered the game with nine straight wins.

The game featured 25 lead changes and 15 ties. Saddiq Bey and Cade Cunningham had 20 points and six assists apiece for the Pistons. Bey also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 31 points, while Tatum netted 22 and Williams 17 with four 3-pointers. Horford had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Raptors 103, Timberwolves 91

Gary Trent Jr. scored 30 points and made five shots from beyond the arc, and Toronto rallied for a win over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Pascal Siakam added 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for Toronto, which snapped a two-game skid.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota, which lost for the first time in three games.