Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 22 as the Los Angeles Clippers remained red-hot in March with a 153-128 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Inglewood, Calif.
Darius Garland scored 21 points and Jordan Miller had 14 as the play-in-tournament eligible Clippers improved to 6-1 this month. Los Angeles (33-32) became the first team in NBA history to move over .500 after they were 15 games under in the same season. Leonard delivered his fifth game with at least 40 points this season and his second against the Timberwolves.
The Clippers set a season high in points scored and are 15-5 at home since Dec. 20, while avenging a 94-88 loss to the Timberwolves at home on Feb. 26.
Anthony Edwards scored 36 points and Naz Reid added 18 as Minnesota lost its third consecutive game. Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Jaylen Clark each had 11 points for the Timberwolves, who have dropped from third to fifth place in the Western Conference during the current skid.
Pelicans 122, Raptors 111
Trey Murphy III produced a game-high 28 points to lead New Orleans past visiting Toronto, giving the Pelicans their seventh win in the past 10 games.
Dejounte Murray had a season-high 27 points and Zion Williamson added 19 for New Orleans, which shot 51.5% from the floor.
The victory spoiled the return of former Pelicans star Brandon Ingram, in his first season with Toronto after spending the previous six in New Orleans. Ingram scored 22 points, while Immanuel Quickley put up 25 as Toronto lost for the fourth time in five games.
Magic 128, Cavaliers 122
Desmond Bane scored 35 points, including five in the final 18 seconds, as Orlando beat visiting Cleveland for the Magic’s fifth straight win.
Paulo Banchero had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Tristan da Silva added 23 points for the surging Magic, who moved into a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Raptors. Cleveland is fourth, three games ahead of both.
James Harden finished with 30 points, his most since joining the Cavaliers in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers, along with five rebounds and eight assists Donovan Mitchell had 25 points and Keon Ellis scored 20 off the bench for Cleveland.
Knicks 134, Jazz 117
Jordan Clarkson scored 17 of his season-high 27 points during a decisive surge over the final 16 minutes for New York, which overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to beat Utah in Salt Lake City.
Jalen Brunson scored 28 points for the Knicks and converted a three-point play that put New York ahead for good at 96-94 with 1.6 seconds left in the third. OG Anunoby had 22 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points while Mohamed Diawara added 10 points off the bench.
Brice Sensabaugh scored 29 points to lead five players in double figures for the Jazz, who made 14 of their first 18 3-point attempts — including eight in a row in the first quarter — before cooling off and losing for the 17th time in 22 games.
Nuggets 129, Rockets 93
Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, Jamal Murray scored a game-high 30 points, and host Denver beat Houston to close the gap in the Western Conference standings.
Houston entered the night in third place in the West, 1 1/2 games ahead of sixth-place Denver. Four teams are within a game of the third seed in the West. Christian Braun scored 19 points, Cameron Johnson added 17 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 14 for the Nuggets, which won the season series 3-1.
Amen Thompson scored 16 points, Josh Okogie had 12, Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. had 11 each and Alperen Sengun finished with 10 for the Rockets, who beat the Raptors at home on Tuesday night.
Hornets 117, Kings 109
Miles Bridges had nine of his 26 points in a key third-quarter run, LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel combined for 11 3-pointers and 54 points, and Charlotte rallied from a halftime deficit to win in Sacramento.
In a contest matching teams that had won 24 hours earlier, Ball finished with a team-high 30 points, Knueppel chipped in with 24 and Brandon Miller added 20 for Charlotte, which won for the eighth time in its last 10 games.
DeMar DeRozan poured in a season-high 39 points for the Kings, who saw a rare two-game winning streak come to an end. Down by five at the half then tied at 73-all in the sixth minute of the third period, the Hornets took the lead for good with an 11-2 burst.
