NBA: Spurs knock off Blazers for 8th straight win; Warriors start hot and cruise past Thunder

San Antonio Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points to lead his team over the Portland Trail Blazers on March 16, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS/USA TODAY SPORTS

(REUTERS) - DeMar DeRozan's 21 points led seven San Antonio players in double figures, as the Spurs made all the big plays in the fourth quarter to beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 108-103 on Saturday (March 16) for their eighth straight National Basketball Association victory.

The sixth-place Spurs are a season-best 12 games over .500 and within a game and a half of Portland (42-27) for fourth place in the Western Conference standings.

Rudy Gay and Derrick White added 13 points each for San Antonio, with LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills scoring 12 points each. DeRozan and Aldridge had eight rebounds apiece, Gay had seven, and Jakob Poeltl blocked five shots.

Portland's Damian Lillard led all scorers with 34 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 24 points and 16 rebounds. C.J. McCollum, who finished with 10 points, left in the third quarter with an apparent left knee injury during a drive to the basket.

In another game, Stephen Curry scored 33 points and Klay Thompson added 23 as defending champions Golden State netted 40 points in the first quarter in defeating hosts Oklahoma City.

DeMarcus Cousins added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who also got eight rebounds and six assists from Draymond Green.

Paul George led the Thunder (42-28) with 29 points but hit only 9 of 25 shots overall. Dennis Schroder added 15 points off the bench, and Russell Westbrook shot only 2 of 16 in finishing with seven points.

Meanwhile, Paul Millsap hit a running layup with seven seconds left as hosts Denver edged out Indiana 102-100 to stay a game behind Golden State (47-21) for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Millsap finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Jokic scored 26 points before being ejected for arguing a foul call on a loose ball play. Jamal Murray and Will Barton scored 17 points each for the Nuggets.

Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 17 points and Domantas Sabonis and Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 16 each for the Pacers.

Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and Jaylen Brown added 23, with two key baskets in a fourth-quarter stretch, as host Boston held off Atlanta 129-120 to win for the fifth time in the past six games.

Irving fell just short of his second straight triple-double with 11 rebounds and nine assists. The Celtics (43-27) also got 19 points - four in the crucial fourth-quarter run - and 11 rebounds from Marcus Morris while Jayson Tatum had 18 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Smart scored 16 points.

The Hawks were led by Trae Young, who had 26 points, including 5-for-8 shooting on three-pointers, and John Collins, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

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