Basketball

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Near the end of what he once referred to as the most important regular-season stretch of his career, LeBron James was able to briefly savor one thing many thought was going to be near impossible after 12 games.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points, Norman Powell added 23 and the Los Angeles Clippers solidified their hopes of avoiding the play-in game with a 136-125 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 33 points in 25 minutes and the Minnesota Timberwolves routed San Antonio 151-131, the most points allowed in regulation under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, on Saturday at the Moody Center.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 118-114 victory over the Western Conference leading Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored 28 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 118-114 victory over the Western Conference leading Denver Nuggets on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak.

The NBA will get what it wanted — drama to end the regular season.

The NBA wants to know why the Dallas Mavericks held out several key players in their next-to-last game of the season, even while the team still had a mathematical chance of making the play-in tournament.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies signed forward/center Kenneth Lofton Jr.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Darvin Ham gets briefed every morning on where his team could end up in the Western Conference playoff race.

Memphis Grizzlies (51-30, second in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (39-42, 10th in the Western Conference) Oklahoma City; Sunday, 3:30 p.m.