Warriors' Jordan Poole sinks Rockets to franchise-worst 18th straight loss

Jordan Poole scored 23 points and drilled six 3-pointers off the bench as the visiting Golden State Warriors cruised to a 108-94 victory over the Houston Rockets, who took a franchise-record 18th consecutive defeat. The old franchise mark of 17 straight losses was set by the San Diego Rockets from January 18-February 16, 1968. Kelly Oubre Jr added 19 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and Draymond Green added a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Golden State. The Warriors received 18 points and eight assists from Stephen Curry - who missed 9 of 11 3-point attempts - before he limped to the locker room at the conclusion of the third quarter. The Rockets trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half. Houston welcomed back Christian Wood (21 points, nine rebounds), who missed the previous 17 games with an ankle sprain, and Danuel House Jr. (11 points), but neither could help the Rockets end their skid. Kevin Porter Jr led the Rockets with 25 points and seven assists. Houston closed to within 14 points multiple times in the second half but failed to muster a serious threat. There were four lead changes early in the first quarter before the Warriors grabbed a 29-21 advantage with an 11-0 run that started with seven consecutive points from Wiggins. Curry and Wiggins combined for 20 first-quarter points to pace Golden State to a 31-27 lead entering the second period, at which time Poole took over with his perimeter marksmanship. Poole followed Wiggins' 3-pointer with his third trey of the second to extend the lead to 52-37 with 4:10 left in the half. Golden State was off and running from that juncture, with Green adding a three-point play before Poole hit his fourth 3-pointer of the period. When Poole completed a three-point play at the 2:13 mark, the Warriors led 63-42 en route to a 24-point halftime lead. Poole, who never got off the bench in the first quarter, scored 15 in the second to match Wiggins' output prior to the break. Porter had 13 first-half points. Jakob Poeltl notched 20 points and 16 rebounds and Dejounte Murray scored eight points in a 17-0 fourth quarter run to boost the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 106-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. San Antonio outscored Chicago 39-19 in the fourth quarter to win for the third time in four games. The Bulls, meanwhile, again squandered a big advantage as they closed a five-game homestand at 2-3. Chicago led by as many as 23 points in the second quarter and 18 at the break, but the Spurs pulled to within one on a Keldon Johnson layup with 9:03 remaining. The shot punctuated a 15-0 San Antonio run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. Zach LaVine ended a scoring drought of 4:12 with a layup of his own to help the Bulls begin to create temporary breathing room. After a Patrick Williams layup gave Chicago an 89-81 edge with 7:03 to go, however, the Spurs scored the next 17 points to seize control. The Bulls shot 44 percent and were 11-for-33 from beyond the arc, compared to 42.7 percent field-goal shooting for the Spurs, who made 8 of 31 long-range attempts. Six Spurs finished in double figures, including Derrick White (17), Murray, Johnson and Patty Mills (14 each) and Lonnie Walker IV (11). LaVine led all scorers with 29 points while adding six assists and six rebounds. Thaddeus Young had 16 points and eight rebounds, Williams had 10 points and 14 boards, and Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. scored 10 points each. San Antonio was without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan (20.3 points per game) for the fourth straight game as he mourns the recent death of his father. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game he is hopeful DeRozan will return for Friday's visit to Cleveland but added "that's not set in stone." Strong ball movement helped the Bulls to a 58-40 lead at halftime. Chicago dished 15 assists before the break. It was the Spurs' lowest-scoring first half in 37 games this season. The Bulls showed a tribute video to mark Young's 1,000th career game, broadcasting it between the first and second quarters. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points, 15 rebounds and five assists and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 19-point deficit for a 109-105 overtime victory over the host Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Antetokounmpo scored 10 points in overtime, including a personal 7-0 run to seal the win. Donte DiVincenzo added 20 points and eight rebounds, Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Khris Middleton had 15 for the Bucks, who won their fifth in a row. Brook Lopez contributed 14. Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 19 points and nine rebounds, and Danny Green hit six 3-pointers for 18. Shake Milton added 15 and Dwight Howard had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Ben Simmons had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, while Furkan Korkmaz contributed 11 points and Seth Curry had 10. The Sixers, who fell to 4-6 without injured All-Star Joel Embiid, had their six-game winning streak snapped. The Bucks missed their first 10 shots of the second and soon trailed by 15, causing head coach Mike Budenholzer to call timeout. Holiday finally broke the skid with a layup to close the Bucks within 35-22 with 6:26 remaining. The Sixers led 45-31 at halftime thanks in large part to 10 points from Harris. Milwaukee posted its second fewest points in any half in the last five years. Philadelphia held a 74-65 advantage at the end of a chippy third, which included three technical fouls called, two on the Sixers. Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play with 8:41 left to tie the game at 76. Antetokounmpo then grabbed a miss by DiVincenzo on the next possession and threw down a dunk for a two-point lead. Curry appeared to injure his left ankle with 7:23 remaining and hobbled to the locker room. Howard's putback with 2:27 remaining gave the Sixers an 82-80 lead. But DiVincenzo responded with a trey for an 83-82 Bucks advantage. Lopez drained a 3-pointer and Holiday added a driving layup for an 88-84 lead with 1:13 to go. The Sixers closed within 91-90 after Green's corner trey with 10.8 seconds remaining. Korkmaz's trey with 0.4 seconds left tied the game at 93 and forced overtime.

Warriors' Jordan Poole sinks Rockets to franchise-worst 18th straight loss

Golden State cruised to a 108-94 victory over the Houston