Kerr earns 600th win, and Golden State hands Wizards their 12th straight loss

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis scored 30 points, De’Anthony Melton added 27 and the Golden State Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak with a 125-117 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday night, earning coach Steve Kerr his 600th career victory.

Golden State is without Stephen Curry (right knee) and Jimmy Butler (torn right ACL), and Seth Curry (left groin) and Al Horford (left calf strain) were also out Monday. The Warriors are almost assured of ending up in the play-in round in the Western Conference, but it matters where among that foursome you finish, and they were able to end their skid against the lowly Wizards.

Washington has dropped 12 in a row, but the Wizards still haven’t taken over last place in the East because Indiana has lost 13 straight.

The Warriors rested Draymond Green, Porzingis and Melton in Sunday’s loss at New York, and those three were able to help them on the second night of this back-to-back. Golden State led by 17 in the second quarter before the Wizards fought back to within two. It was 64-57 at the half.

Golden State led by 15 early in the fourth before the Wizards made one more push. They could draw no closer than five.

Trae Young scored 21 points in 21 minutes for Washington.

HAWKS 124, MAGIC 112

ATLANTA (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a career-high 41 points, Jalen Johnson had his 13th triple-double of the season and Atlanta rolled past the Magic, extending their winning streak to 10 games and snapping Orlando’s at seven.

The Hawks improved to 38-31 and reclaimed eighth place in the Eastern Conference, bumping Philadelphia back to ninth.

Johnson had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists in his second straight triple-double. Dyson Daniels added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Alexander-Walker scored 24 points in the first half, helping Atlanta to a 67-50 lead at halftime. Alexander-Walker’s previous career high was 38 points against the Spurs earlier this season.

The Hawks kept momentum rolling after the intermission, scoring 23 points in the first 5:12 of the third quarter to extend their lead to 29 points. The Hawks totaled 37 points in the period and led 104-83 at the start of the fourth.

Orlando cut the deficit to 12 points with 3 1/2 minutes remaining before Atlanta put the game back out of reach.

Paolo Banchero had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Desmond Bane also added 18 points.

TRAIL BLAZERS 114, NETS 95

NEW YORK (AP) — Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara each scored 18 points, and Portland coasted to a victory over Brooklyn.

Donovan Clingan finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds and reserve Scoot Henderson had 16 points for the Blazers, who never trailed and led by as many as 31.

Nic Claxton had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the short-handed Nets, who have lost four consecutive games and 14 of 16. Leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. (ankle) missed his third straight game and Noah Clowney (rest) was held out.

CELTICS 120, SUNS 112

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 18 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and Jayson Tatum scored 21 in his fifth game back from an Achilles tendon injury to help Boston beat Phoenix.

Devin Booker scored 40 for the Suns, who have lost back-to-back games after snapping a four-game winning streak. Jalen Green scored 21 for Phoenix.

Derrick White, who was presented with February’s Eastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month Award before the game, had 21 points for Boston, and Payton Pritchard scored 19.

PELICANS 129, MAVERICKS 111

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson scored 27 points and New Orleans defeated injury-depleted Dallas.

Saddiq Bey had 23 points, while Jeremiah Fears and Trey Murphy III each added 17 to help the Pelicans win for the eighth time in 12 games.

Naji Marshall scored 32 points for the Mavs against his former team. Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, the top pick in the 2025 draft, had 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

BULLS 132, GRIZZLIES 107

CHICAGO (AP) — Josh Giddey had 16 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for his fourth triple-double in five games, and Chicago blew out Memphis to hand the depleted Grizzlies their eighth straight loss.

Giddey is third in the NBA with 12 triple-doubles this season, trailing Nikola Jokic (27) of the Denver Nuggets and Jalen Johnson (13) of the Atlanta Hawks. Giddey is averaging 17.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists, all career highs. The fifth-year guard has been limited to 46 games this season by hamstring and ankle injuries.

Matas Buzelis led the Bulls with 29 points, including five 3-pointers. The second-year forward, who was the 11th pick in the 2024 draft, has logged three of the four highest-scoring totals of his career in just the last three weeks.

Tre Jones added 17 points and Rob Dillingham had 15 off the bench for the Bulls, who started a four-game homestand by winning for just the fifth time in their last 23 games. The Bulls, who are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and six games out of the last play-in spot, outscored the Grizzlies 71-50 in the second half.

Cedric Coward led the Grizzlies with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Jaylen Wells and Taylor Hendricks each added 16 points. The Grizzlies, who have shelved standout Zach Edey for the remainder of the season and not had star Ja Morant play for nearly two months, were also without starters Ty Jerome (bruised shoulder) and G.G. Jackson (sore foot). Memphis is 3-15 in its last 18 games.

LAKERS 100, ROCKETS 92

HOUSTON (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 36 points to lead Los Angeles to a victory over Houston in the opener of a two-game series between teams fighting for Western Conference playoff position.

Los Angeles moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Houston for third in the West standings. There were 13 lead changes in a game that had a playoff atmosphere, but the Lakers ultimately won their sixth straight.

LeBron James found Marcus Smart for a corner 3-pointer that put Los Angeles up 94-90 with 2 minutes remaining. James finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Doncic hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fading minutes of the third quarter to give the Lakers an 83-80 lead after trailing 57-51 at halftime. Doncic was 4 for 12 on 3s in the game and needs 11 more to match D’Angelo Russell’s franchise record of 226 in a season.

Doncic had his sixth straight game with 30 or more points but fell just short of his 12th 40-point game this season. He went 14 for 27 from the field.

Jabari Smith Jr. led Houston with 22 points. Amen Thompson had 19 and Kevin Durant added 18 for the Rockets, who committed 24 turnovers compared with just 12 for Los Angeles.

SPURS 119, CLIPPERS 115

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and San Antonio overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off Los Angeles.

Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.

Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.

Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs’ reserves 57-30.