NBA Capsules: Leonard’s 31 points leads San Antonio Spurs past Atlanta Hawks

SAN ANTONIO– Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points in his return from a concussion and the San Antonio Spurs tied Golden State for the NBA’s best record with a 107-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

San Antonio made a season-high 16 3-pointers in its 19th straight home victory over Atlanta. The Spurs and Warriors are 52-14 with 16 games remaining, including the final regular-season matchup between them on March 29.

Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder had 22 points and 10 assists, shooting 10 for 22 from the field. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17 points, but the Hawks had their three-game winning streak snapped.

San Antonio’s Patty Mills had 15 points and Danny Green added 14. The starting guards combined to shoot 7 for 12 on 3-pointers and the team finished 16 for 34 on 3s.

Jazz 114, Clippers 108

SALT LAKE CITY– Gordon Hayward scored 27 points and Utah broke a nine-game home losing streak to Los Angeles.

The victory gave the Jazz a two-game lead over the Clippers in the race for the No. 4 playoff seed in the Western Conference and home-court advantage in the first round.

Utah scored 40 points in the third quarter, a season-high for any quarter, after trailing much of the first half. George Hill was much more aggressive on the offensive end after a sluggish first half and the Jazz missed just four of 17 shots in the period while hitting all six 3-point attempts. The ball movement was outstanding on offense and nearly everyone got in the mix.

Chris Paul had 33 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Clippers.

Timberwolves 119, Wizards 104

MINNEAPOLIS– Karl-Anthony Towns had 39 points and 13 rebounds, Ricky Rubio scored 22 points and broke his own franchise record with 19 assists, and Minnesota beat Washington.

Nemanja Bjelica added 16 points and 10 boards off the bench for the Timberwolves, who entered the game 3 1/2 games behind Denver for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Minnesota shot 52 percent and Rubio topped 20 points in back-to-back games for the second time in his six-year career.

John Wall scored 27 points for the Wizards, who fell 2 1/2 games back of Cleveland for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Bradley Beal added 20 points, but Washington lost for the first time in six games.

Grizzlies 113, Bucks 93

MEMPHIS, Tenn.– Vince Carter made all eight of his shots, including six from beyond the arc, to score a season-high 24 points and lead Memphis past Milwaukee.

The 40-year-old Carter set a season high for 3-point makes in his first start of the season. Memphis shot 52 percent for the game, including 14 of 27 from deep.

Memphis stopped a five-game skid by ending the Bucks’ six-game winning streak.

Mike Conley had 20 points and 10 assists for Memphis, while Tony Allen scored 15 points. Zach Randolph finished with 14 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 18 points, while Malcolm Brogdon contributed 15 off the bench. Greg Monroe and Matthew Dellavedova finished with 13 points each for Milwaukee, which started a six-game trip against Western Conference teams.

Bulls 115, Hornets 109

CHARLOTTE, N.C.– Nikola Mirotic scored 24 points, Rajon Rondo had a season-high 20 in his return to the starting lineup and Chicago beat Charlotte to snap a season-high, five-game losing streak.

Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler each had 23 points for the Bulls (32-35), who got a needed win to boost their hopes of earning the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Mirotic, who didn’t play in Chicago’s loss to Boston on Sunday, had five 3-pointers, while Rondo provided the spark for the Bulls in his first start since Dec. 30. Along with hitting a season-high three 3-pointers, he had six assists and seven rebounds.

Jeremy Lamb scored 26 points filling in for Nic Batum (migraine), while Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 22 and Kemba Walker 21 for the struggling Hornets. Marvin Williams had 13 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds.

Raptors 100, Mavericks 78

TORONTO (AP) – DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, Norman Powell added 19 and Toronto beat Dallas for the third straight time.

Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Raptors beat Dallas for the sixth time in their last eight meetings. Toronto swept the season series last year.

Harrison Barnes had 18 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 for Dallas, which lost starting forward Wesley Matthews to a strained right calf. Matthews, who was averaging 14.7 points coming into the game, was removed with 1:07 to play in the first half and did not return.

The Raptors led by 13 entering the fourth quarter, then opened the period with a 10-2 run that extended the lead to 21 in the opener of the Mavericks’ four-game road swing.

Nuggets 129, Lakers 101

DENVER– Will Barton and Jamal Murray scored 22 points apiece and Denver beat Los Angeles for its third win in a row, matching a season high.

Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic each added 18 points for the Nuggets, who have a two-game lead over Portland for the No. 8 playoff seed in the Western Conference with 15 games to play.

Ivica Zubac had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost 10 of their last 11. Jordan Clarkson, who got the start ahead of D’Angelo Russell, added 19 points and Brandon Ingram had 14.

Kings 120, Magic 115

SACRAMENTO, Calif.– Darren Collison had 19 points and 13 assists, reserve Anthony Tolliver also scored 19 points and Sacramento beat Orlando to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Tolliver scored five straight points in the closing minutes as the Kings improved to 2-8 since trading DeMarcus Cousins during the All-Star break. The eight-game losing streak was the longest for the Kings since the 2014-15 season.

Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Magic. Evan Fournier made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points, and Aaron Gordon had 17.

Elfrid Payton had 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season, but Orlando dropped its third straight.

Willie Cauley-Stein had 18 points for the Kings and rookie Buddy Hield had 17.