Kawhi Leonard made some noise after a quiet first half, and the San Antonio Spurs knocked off another victim on their home court.
Leonard dropped in 16 of his 22 points in the second half, LaMarcus Aldridge also had 22 against his former team, and the Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-110 on Thursday, for their 43rd consecutive home victory since March 2015.  
“I’m just trying to win,” Leonard said. “If I have a quiet game and we win, I’m happy.”
The Spurs improved to 34-0 at the AT&T Centre this season and moved within three home victories of the all-time record to open a campaign set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls in their historic 72-10 run.
“We’re in franchise record year but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win the championship,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said.
Parker had 18 points and a season-high 16 assists while Australian Patty Mills netted 17 off the bench for the Spurs, who shot 52 per cent from the field and turned the ball over a season-low seven times.
San Antonio broke the game open with a 39-24 third quarter, that turned a two-point halftime advantage into a 95-78 cushion and cruised to 13th win in the last 14 games.
Leonard led the way with 11 points, Aldridge and Mills followed with nine and eight, respectively, as the Spurs shot a blistering 16-of-24 from the field, including 5-of-5 on 3’s.
“Teammates looked for me,” Leonard said. “I got open and I made the shots.”
Mills said the Spurs stuck to their game plan: “We tightened up the team defence concept in the second half. That was the game plan all along. The ball was moving and it helped that we were making shots.”
The Spurs (58-10) tuned up for Saturday’s home clash against the league-best Golden State Warriors (61-6), in a showdown of the NBA’s top clubs.  
The Warriors won the first meeting, 120-90 January 25 on their home floor.
“It’s a going to be a big one,” Parker said. “Obviously, they beat us pretty bad the first one, so it’s going to be a good test.
“They’re the defending champs and they’ve been playing unbelievable this year. So, we get another shot at them.”  
CJ McCollum had 26 points for Portland (35-34), and Damian Lillard added 23.
Toronto Raptors 101, Indiana Pacers 94 (OT): DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored 28 points apiece, Bismack Biyombo added 16 with a career-best 25 rebounds, carrying the Raptors (46-21) past the Pacers in overtime.  Toronto outscored its hosts 16-9 in the extra session, with DeRozan and Lowry combining for 11 points.
Indiana (36-32) was paced by 18 points apiece from Paul George and George Hill.
•Washington Wizards 99, Philadelphia 76ers 94: John Wall made eight free throws in the final 14.6 seconds to cap a 16-point, 14-assist, 13-rebound effort for his fourth triple-double of the season, and the visiting Wizards (33-35) held off the Sixers for their third straight victory after coughing up a 24-point halftime cushion.  
 Ish Smith scored 20 points for league-worst Philadelphia (9-59), which has lost 20 of its last 22.
•Charlotte Hornets 109, Miami Heat 106:  Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker tossed in 21 points apiece, and the visiting Hornets (39-29) stormed from 15 down in the first half to beat the Heat for their 15th win in the last 18 games.
Luol Deng led Miami (39-29) with 22 points.  
•Atlanta Hawks 116, Denver Nuggets 98: Tim Hardaway Jr scored a season-high 21 points, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague added 18 apiece, and the Hawks (40-29) rocked the visiting Nuggets to move atop the Southeast Division standings.
DJ Augustine had 17 points for Denver (28-41), which fell to 0-3 on its five-game road trip.
•Chicago Bulls 118, Brooklyn Nets 102: Reserve Doug McDermott scored 25 points, Jimmy Butler had 22, and the Bulls (34-33) bounced the visiting Nets (19-49) despite Bojan Bogdanovic’s game-high 26.
•Milwaukee Bucks 96, Memphis Grizzlies 86: Tyler Ennis scored all 13 of his points in the final quarter, sparking the Bucks (29-39) over the short-handed Grizzlies.
Matt Barnes scored 20 points for visiting Grizzlies (39-29), who lost their fourth consecutive game without key players Mike Conley (Achilles), Zach Randolph (knee), Vince Carter (calf) and Marc Gasol (season-ending foot surgery).
•Utah Jazz 103, Phoenix Suns 69: Trey Lyles tossed in 17 points, Shelvin Mack had 15 with 10 assists and eight rebounds, and the Jazz (33-35) - minus top scorer Gordon Hayward (foot injury) - used a dominate 57-31 second-half to drum the Suns (18-50).