ATLANTA: Atlanta won Friday’s battle of the NBA Conference leaders, beating Golden State 124-116 to move 1-1/2 games clear of the Warriors in the struggle for the overall league lead.

In another showdown between contenders from the East and West, Toronto overran the Los Angeles Clippers, while other key contests saw Houston defeat Milwaukee and San Antonio beat Miami in their first meeting since last year’s NBA Finals.

Atlanta was tied with Golden State at halftime and led by just four points after three quarters, but took the ascendancy in the fourth.

Jeff Teague scored 23 points for the Hawks while Al Horford had 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Golden State’s back-court one-two punch of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson did do some damage. Thompson scored 29 points and Curry had 26 for Golden State but they lacked sufficient support.

Toronto overcame a 20-point deficit and then ran away from the Clippers to win 123-107.

DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points and Kyle Lowry had 21 for the Raptors, who maintained their 12-game lead in the otherwise struggling Atlantic Division.

Blake Griffin scored 26 points for Los Angeles, which has won only two of six on the current eight-game road trip.

Houston beat Milwaukee 117-111 to move within two games of the Southwest Division lead.

NBA scoring leader James Harden had 33 points and hit three of Houston’s 15 3-pointers, while Trevor Ariza added 24 points for the Rockets, going 6 of 10 from 3-point range.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks.

San Antonio defeated Miami 98-85 in a meeting of two teams struggling to match the standards that saw them reach last year’s league decider.

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and Tim Duncan had 10 points and 12 rebounds for his 24th double-double of the season for the Spurs, who are seventh in the Western Conference.

Luol Deng had 17 points for the Heat, who are 20-1/2 games behind division and conference leader Atlanta.

New Orleans’ Anthony Davis scored 41 points and hit a 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Pelicans to a 116-113 win at Oklahoma City.

Davis also grabbed 10 rebounds and outdueled Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who had a career-high 48 points to go with 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Davis took the inbounds pass from Tyreke Evans and, with Kevin Durant running at him, hit the winning shot.

Westbrook, who also scored 45 points as part of a triple-double on Wednesday, had made three free throws with 1.2 seconds left to tie it.

Indiana stopped Cleveland’s winning streak at 12 games by beating the Cavaliers 103-99, with George Hill hitting a 3-pointer and subsequent foul shot with 1:26 left to turn a one-point deficit into a three-point lead.

Memphis also had a long winning run ended, with the eight straight victories stopped with a 90-89 defeat at Minnesota.

Phoenix’s Marcus Morris scored 24 of his career-high 34 points in the first half and had a career-best 12 rebounds to lead the Suns to a 100-93 win against Utah.

Detroit won 98-93 against a Denver team that has lost 12 of 13, with Greg Monroe contributing 21 points and a career-high 21 rebounds.

Brooklyn’s Jarrett Jack made a clutch 3-pointer with 13.8 seconds left to help the Nets beat city rival New York 92-88.

Boston produced its third successive win by downing Philadelphia 107-96, with Jared Sullinger having 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Orlando ended a 10-game losing skid by edging the Los Angeles Lakers 103-97 after overtime, with Tobias Harris notching a career-high 34 points.

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