The San Antonio Spurs beat the Milwaukee Bucks 127-95 while the Detroit Pistons beat Minnesota 109-87, also away.
Stephen Castle he achieved his fourth triple-double season and was among seven teammates in double figures in scoring as visiting San Antonio cruised to its eighth straight win over Milwaukee.
The Spurs won for the 13th time in their last 14 games and remain just behind Oklahoma City for both first place in the West and the best record in the league. San Antonio is two games behind behind the defending champion Thunder with eight games to go.
Castle finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points for the Bucks, who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo (left knee) for the sixth straight game.
Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and Detroit separated from Minnesota and achieved a convincing victory in Minneapolis. Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins each scored 13 points for the Pistons, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo led the Timberwolves with 22 points and hit five 3-pointers, and Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Joel Embiid scored 29 points and made a big block in the final seconds as the Philadelphia 76ers came back from a 15-point deficit to beat the host Charlotte Hornets 118-114 on Saturday. Philadelphia snapped Charlotte’s five-game winning streak to take the season series against the Hornets 2-1. Paul George, in his second game back from a 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the league’s drug program, finished with 26 points and Tyrese Maxey also had 26 points after missing 10 games with a finger injury.
Brandon Miller scored 29, while LaMelo Ball added 20 and Coby White 16 for the Hornets, who clinched a play-in spot after the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the day. Charlotte hasn’t made the playoffs since 2022.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 27 points, Jalen Johnson added 26 points and 10 assists, and the home Atlanta kept the win against Sacramento. It was coach Quin Snyder’s 500th career victory, becoming the sixth active NBA head coach and the 41st in league history to reach the milestone. CJ McCollum scored 22 points, while Jock Landale finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks. DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 22 points.
(Hina | Photo: San Antonio Spurs)
