Spurs beat Magic 121-112, win 6th straight
San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green, left, looks to pass around Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic during the first half on an NBA basketball game on Saturday, March 8, 2014, in San Antonio. AP
SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 30 points, Manu Ginobili added 24 and the San Antonio Spurs overcame a lethargic performance to beat the Orlando Magic 121-112 on Saturday night.
Kawhi Leonard added 17 points, Tiago Splitter scored 14, Danny Green 12 and Tim Duncan had 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Spurs (46-16) extended their winning streak to six games.
Article continues after this advertisementTobias Harris scored 23 points, Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Arron Afflalo had 17 points for Orlando (19-45), who were swept in the season series.
Coming off the emotional high of a 111-87 victory over Miami two nights earlier in an NBA Finals rematch, San Antonio appeared listless against the Southeast Division’s last-place team.
Led by former Spurs player and assistant Jacque Vaughn, the Magic gave his former team a tense evening before San Antonio closed it out late.
Article continues after this advertisementGinobili lured E’Twaun Moore into hitting his right triceps, as he rose for an off-balance, fallaway, 14-foot jumper. The Argentine guard made the free throw to complete the three-point play and give San Antonio a 114-104 lead with 2:34 remaining.
Leonard followed with a breakaway dunk off a turnover and Parker nailed a 3-pointer to put the Spurs up 119-104 with just under 2 minutes left.
At Milwaukee, Bradley Beal scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Washington Wizards avoid blowing a 28-point lead and beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-107.
Washington opened a 71-43 lead in the second quarter, but the Bucks cut the deficit to 104-101 on a pair of free throws by Ersan Ilyasova with 2:13 to go.
Beal then scored on a driving layup and hit a baseline 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 109-101 lead with two minutes left, which it held on to for its eighth win in nine games.
Blake Griffin had 27 points and eight rebounds, Chris Paul added 19 points, including a lead-taking layup in the final minute, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-108 for their season-high seventh straight victory.
The Pacific Division-leading Clippers got 13 points and 12 rebounds from DeAndre Jordan, and 17 points from Matt Barnes on the eve of his 34th birthday.
DeMarre Carroll scored 19 points in Atlanta’s 14th loss in 15 games and sixth in a row.
Carmelo Anthony shook off a horrid shooting start and scored 26 points, leading the New York Knicks to their third straight victory, 107-97 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Amare Stoudemire added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks.
Elsewhere Saturday, the Utah Jazz beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 104-92, and the Memphis Grizzlies easily overcame Charlotte, 111-89.
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