Victor Wembanyama racked up 32 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots in his return to lead the host San Antonio Spurs to a 115-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday as two of the hottest teams in the NBA clashed.

De’Aaron Fox added 17 points for the Spurs, with Stephon Castle adding 15 points with 10 assists. Keldon Johnson scored 13 points and Luke Kornet contributed 10 for San Antonio.

Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 22 points while Kon Knueppel scored 20, Coby White had 18 off the bench and LaMelo Ball added 17 for the Hornets, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Spurs are 17-2 since the start of February, while the Hornets fell to 8-3 since Feb. 22.

The Spurs led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter and 13 at halftime before heading into the fourth quarter up 91-83. Bridges’ 3-pointer with 9:33 left brought Charlotte to within four before San Antonio reeled off the next 12 points to expand its advantage to 104-88 with 6:05 remaining.

The Hornets were unable to challenge down the stretch, with Wembanyama’s fifth 3-pointer of the game coming with 1:12 remaining to seal the victory and get San Antonio’s back on track after a loss on Thursday to Denver when Wembanyama was out with ankle soreness.

San Antonio used an 18-0 run, capped by two free throws by Barnes, in building an early 28-13 lead. The Hornets missed 13 consecutive shots during the Spurs’ surge before pulling within 31-24 after one quarter.

The Spurs were up 46-28 five minutes into the second quarter and finished the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 59-46 advantage into the break. Wembanyama had 18 points and eight rebounds before halftime for the Spurs while Fox added 10 points. Ball had 11 points for the Hornets in the first half.

Knueppel tried to shoot Charlotte back into the game in the third period, making three 3-pointers as part of his 17 points in the quarter as the Hornets cut San Antonio’s lead to 82-73.

–Field Level Media

Kirill Marchenko scored his 100th career goal and also tallied in the shootout to lift the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

After the first five shootout attempts were unsuccessful, Marchenko made a late move to his backhand and lifted the puck past Dan Vladar. Marchenko is 10 for 15 in his career on shootouts, among the best marks in NHL history.

Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves made 18 saves in regulation and overtime before denying Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny in the shootout. Columbus has recorded a point in nine straight games (5-0-4).

Vladar finished with 27 saves for Philadelphia, which had won six of its last eight contests. Alex Bump scored the lone goal for the Flyers.

Columbus nearly took the lead with about eight minutes left in regulation, as Zach Werenski’s shot was deflected in front by Mason Marchment and went just wide. Marchenko had a good chance with about five minutes left in the third, but Vladar held firm.

Overtime was uneventful with Philadelphia recording the only shot on goal. Marchment had a scoring chance midway through OT, but to no avail. Then in the final minute of overtime, Michkov got a semi-breakaway but lost the puck at the last moment.

Marchenko scored his milestone goal 4:21 into the contest. Following a scramble in front of the net, the puck squirted out to the high slot for Marchenko, whose blast sailed past Vladar for his 25th of the season.

About six minutes later, Bump deflected a shot by Emil Andrae past Greaves. The officials initially missed the goal, but replays confirmed that the puck went into the net and then quickly caromed back out.

The goal was the second for Bump in five games to begin his NHL career.

Shot totals were low overall. After a 13-shot attack by Columbus in the first period, the Blue Jackets managed only 15 shots the rest of the way. The Flyers, meanwhile, managed no more than seven shots in any period.

Paolo Banchero posted 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the visiting Orlando Magic defeated the Miami Heat for the fifth straight time 121-117 on Saturday night.

Orlando led by as many as 22 but needed two Wendell Carter Jr. free throws with 11 seconds left to help put Miami away. Banchero added two free throws with 7.8 seconds left.

Desmond Bane added 21 points for the Magic, who have won seven straight. Carter scored 15, Jalen Suggs added 14 and Jamal Cain chipped in 12 as the Magic swept the season series 5-0.

Miami, which had its seven-game win streak snapped, was led by Bam Adebayo, who had 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 22 points, seven assists and three steals. Fellow reserve Norman Powell had 20 points and Pelle Larsson scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Miami got two of its top three scorers back as Tyler Herro (quadriceps) and Powell (groin) returned after missing a combined nine games, seven by Powell. Herro had just 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting from the field.

The Heat remain without fourth-leading scorer Andrew Wiggins, who has missed five straight games due to a toe injury.

Orlando won without two of its top four scorers: Franz Wagner (ankle) and Anthony Black (back).

The Magic jumped out to a 14-6 lead and continued to play well, taking a 41-27 lead at the end of the first quarter. Orlando shot 69.6% from the field in the quarter compared to 38.1% for Miami.

In the second quarter, Orlando shot 52.2% overall and 4 of 9 on 3-point attempts and went into halftime with a 71-55 lead. Miami made 44.0% in the second quarter, including 2 of 10 from deep.

The Magic survived a slump in third, shooting just 38.1% overall, including 1 of 6 on 3-pointers. Despite the struggles, Orlando entered the fourth leading 98-83.

In the fourth, Miami cut its deficit to 117-111 with 1:07 left on a Jaquez three-point play. After a Magic miss, Larsson made two free throws with 43.2 seconds left.

On Orlando’s next possession, Tristan da Silva dribbled the ball between his legs and out of bounds.

However, Larsson was called for a turnover failing to inbound the ball within five seconds.

Suggs missed two free throws, allowing Miami to cut the margin to 117-115 on a pair of Jaquez foul shots with 18.5 ticks remaining. But the Magic held on for the win.

–Field Level Media