The San Antonio Spurs rallied from 22 points down to beat the Chicago Bulls 124-119 on Wednesday, notching a 10th straight NBA win and keeping the pressure on the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers improved their league-best record to 11-2 — half a game ahead of the 10-2 Spurs atop the West — with a 123-112 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
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Luka Doncic scored 32 points but limped out late in the fourth quarter after rolling his right ankle.
In Chicago, Victor Wembanyama poured in 32 points to lead seven Spurs players who scored double figures.
But San Antonio had to claw back from a 22-point first-half deficit against the lowly Bulls — who dropped their eighth straight.
Chicago’s 41-first-quarter points were the most allowed in the opening period by the Spurs this season.
They limited Wembanyama early, but they couldn’t keep it up. He finished an efficient 13-of-18 from the floor with nine rebounds, two steals and five blocked shots, and the Spurs erased a 14-point half-time deficit in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
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The Lakers led most of the way in Milwaukee, where they also faced a struggling team in the Bucks.
“(It) could have easily been a trap game for us,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
“So I appreciate the way we handled the first half and then to build that lead in the third quarter and through the early part of the fourth was excellent.”
Redick said he thought Doncic’s injury was “just a light tweak.”
Teammate Austin Reaves will require further tests on a left heel injury suffered in the third quarter when he landed awkwardly.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by 32 points from James Harden and 23 from Donovan Mitchell, beat the defending champion New York Knicks 115-107 at Madison Square Garden.
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The Cavs got off to a hot start and led by 12 in the first quarter before hanging on for the win. The Knicks managed to tie the score four times in the second half but never took the lead.
Peyton Watson’s fourth block with 33.7 seconds left led to a thunderous dunk from Cavs center Jarrett Allen that pushed the lead to seven points and essentially sealed the win.
– Celtics overcome Raptors –
Boston’s Jayson Tatum made the go-ahead free throws with 25.2 seconds left as the Celtics rallied to beat the Raptors 98-93 in Toronto.
Boston trailed by as many as 22 but stepped it up defensively in the second half to notch a fifth straight win, one night after an emotional win over ex-Celtic Jaylen Brown and the 76ers in Philadelphia.
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“You know, a four-game road trip is tough, especially a back-to-back, how late we got in last night,” Tatum said.
“It was ugly, but I’ll take it,” added Tatum, who led all scorers with 24 and added seven rebounds and eight assists.
Derrick White scored 19 for the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics, and Payton Pritchard scored 14 off the bench.
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