For Spurs, 6 in row overall, and 6 in row over Mavs
Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Spurs escaped with a 96-91 victory over the struggling Mavericks on Monday night for their sixth straight victory.
The once-heated rivalry between the Texas teams has cooled considerably with the Spurs’ sustained success and the Mavericks’ injuries and free-agent troubles.
Chris Paul had 26 points and 12 assists, Blake Griffin also scored 26 and host Los Angeles won a matchup of early-season division leaders.
DeAndre Jordan added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who snapped a four-game losing streak to Toronto and improved to an NBA-best 13-2.
The Clippers led by 17 in the second half but the Raptors cut the margin to 119-115 on a three-pointer by Kyle Lowry with less than a minute to play.
Center Gasol finished with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and was dominant early as the Grizzlies led by 24 at halftime.
Miami’s Hassan Whiteside set a career high with 32 points for the Heat while reaching double digits (13) in rebounds for the 13th consecutive game to start the season.
Bradley Beal scored a career-high 42 points — 26 in the second half — and John Wall shook off an awful shooting night with seven key points down the stretch for host Washington.
James Harden had 28 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to lift visiting Houston to its third straight win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had his first triple-double of the season to help host Milwaukee end its three-game losing streak.