Michael Jordan Team player

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge each had 22 points plus the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-110 Thursday night to secure the second-best home start to a season in league history.

The Spurs have won 34 right yourself to start the season and only trail the 37 gains by the Chicago Bulls in their historic 72-victory season in 1995-96. The Orlando secret won 33 right to start the growing season that same period.

a dominant 3rd quarter allowed San Antonio to stay its starters for a lot of the 4th one-fourth in advance of Saturday’s showdown with Golden State. The Warriors and the Spurs have actually both clinched playoff berths and unit brands and therefore are on pace to finish with two of three best single-season documents in league record.

C.J. McCollum had 26 points and Damian Lillard had 23 for Portland.

San Antonio just had two turnovers in the first half while shooting 50 % through the industry but had trouble gaining any split from Portland.

But because they have inked in their home winning streak, the Spurs dominated the start of the second one half to take command for the game. San Antonio launched the third quarter on a 10-0 run, with Aldridge scoring seven things and Leonard igniting the run with a 3-pointer. The Spurs had 14 helps on 16 field targets within the 3rd one-fourth.

Leonard had 11 things in the 3rd one-fourth, providing a good start on offense and protection. The 6-foot-7 forward covered a pass to Duncan for an uncontested dunk after drawing three defenders within the lane. Leonard after that disrupted a 3-point attempt after which drained his own 3 from the ensuing control.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: Portland forward/center Meyers Leonard is anticipated to miss about three games after dislocating his left shoulder used Wednesday. The damage occurred after Gerald Henderson swiped at his arm. Leonard dislocated similar shoulder against San Antonio on Nov. 11, causing a seven-game absence. … The Trail Blazers have obtained 16 of the past 24 games. … Portland is 20-1 whenever leading in the one half and 2-13 whenever trailing. … The Trail Blazers, whom play Friday in New Orleans, tend to be 12-17 in back-to-back games.

Spurs: Aldridge has actually averaged 17 points and six rebounds in three games resistant to the Trail Blazers in 2010. The 6-foot-11 forward left Portland to signal with San Antonio within the offseason. … The Spurs have obtained 54 of their past 62 games. … San Antonio took a 56-54 lead on half whenever Patty Mills exhausted a couple of free punches after being fouled near midcourt by Lillard with 0.1 moments continuing to be.

MIAMI (AP) — Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker each scored 21 points, together with Charlotte Hornets overcame a 15-point first-half shortage to conquer the Miami Heat 109-106 on Thursday evening.

Nic Batum scored 19 the Hornets, who split four games with Miami this season now have a similar 39-29 record given that temperature within the jampacked Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Hornets are actually 15-3 within their final 18 games.

Charlotte trailed 45-30 within the 2nd one-fourth, after that took the lead by halftime and held it for many associated with last half. Courtney Lee had 13 and Marvin Williams scored 12 for the Hornets.

Luol Deng led the warmth with 22 things. It had been the 10th time this year that Miami destroyed a casino game in which it led at one point by double figures, with six of these coming yourself.

Charlotte led by six with 3:24 left, but couldn’t shake heat.

Dwyane Wade started 1 for 10 from floor, but made a set of layups within the last moments – each getting Miami within a place. Charlotte’s Jeremy Lin got delivered to the foul line after each of these baskets by Wade and went 4 for 4 from the stripe in those moments, the very last of those coming with 3.8 seconds left to revive the Hornets’ three-point lead.

And that is adequate, as Wade’s 3-pointer with another left missed.

Josh Richardson scored 18, Hassan Whiteside had 17, Goran Dragic completed with 16 and Joe Johnson added 13 for Miami.

Miami used a 12-0 cost use the 15-point lead at exact midpoint of this second quarter, and every little bit of it had been gone by halftime. Walker had 13 points in under five minutes to fuel just what became a 24-7 rush by the Hornets to close the 1 / 2, including a 3-pointer that sent them into the locker room with a 54-52 lead.

The Heat briefly had the lead two times in the third, but a 13-5 cost close that one-fourth delivered Charlotte into the last 12 moments with an 82-73 edge.

When you look at the 4th, Whiteside and Richardson either scored or had the assist regarding very first six Miami baskets. Richardson – that is averaging 15.8 points in the final five games on 66 percent shooting, including 15-for-21 from 3-point range – made a 3 to obtain the temperature within 91-90 midway through fourth, but Charlotte would not lose the lead at any point in the final one-fourth.