Spurs claim franchise-record 64th win, Bulls´ play-off hopes fade
The San Antonio Spurs posted a franchise-record 64th win of the NBA season after seeing off the short-handed Toronto Raptors 102-95.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard came up big for the Spurs, who topped their 63-win season in 2005-06, in the absence of Raptors pair Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan on Saturday.
Aldridge posted 31 points and 15 rebounds in a double-double display, while Leonard scored a career-high 33 points as the Spurs improved to 39-0 – a league record – at home in San Antonio this season.
The Spurs (64-12) have now won 48 consecutive homes games, a run going back to March last year.
With Lowry and DeRozan rested, Nick Powell’s 17 points led the Raptors (51-25), who are second in the Eastern Conference and three games adrift of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Chicago Bulls and their play-off hopes were dealt a major blow after they lost 94-90 to rivals the Detroit Pistons.
Despite Jimmy Butler’s first career triple-double (28 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists), the ninth-placed Bulls (38-38) fell two games outside of the post-season spots in the East.
Reggie Jackson (22 points) and Tobias Harris (21) lifted the Pistons (41-36) past the Bulls and half a game clear of the eighth-placed Indiana Pacers (40-36).
The Pacers accounted for the lowly Philadelphia 76ers 115-102.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Sacramento Kings downed the Denver Nuggets 115-106 and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Miami Heat 110-93.
