NBA round-up: LeBron James leads Los Angeles Lakers to win over New Orleans Pelicans
Written by News on 22/12/2018
LeBron James played through illness to record a triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center.
New Orleans Pelicans 104-112 Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James, sick enough earlier in the day that his ability to take the court Friday night was in doubt, nonetheless finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers turned back the New Orleans Pelicans 112-104 on Friday night.
It was James’ third triple-double as a member of the Lakers and his second in four games. It was also the 76th of his career.
Kyle Kuzma added 23 points for the Lakers, who ended a two-game losing streak. In his first start of the season, Lakers center Ivica Zubac scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting as the Lakers made it a positive return home after going 1-3 on their road trip.
Anthony Davis scored 30 points with 20 rebounds for the Pelicans, who lost their third consecutive game and are 0-2 on their current road trip, which also has stops at Sacramento and Dallas.
The availability of both James and Davis was in doubt until the start. The Lakers also had Zubac and Tyson Chandler playing through illness.
Rajon Rondo scored eight points with nine assists in his first game since November 14 as he missed 17 contests because of a broken bone in his hand that required surgery.
Brandon Ingram, who had 18 points, also played after missing the last seven games because of an ankle injury.
Former Laker Julius Randle scored 21 points for the Pelicans, while Darius Miller had 11 and E’Twaun Moore added 10. Lonzo Ball had 12 points for the Lakers.
Cleveland Cavaliers 110-126 Toronto Raptors
Kawhi Leonard matched his season best with 37 points on 12-for-16 shooting as the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 126-110.
OG Anunoby equalled his career bests with 21 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors while Pascal Siakam added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Fred VanVleet produced 14 points and eight assists.
Jordan Clarkson had 20 points, Collin Sexton added 17 points and Larry Nance Jr supplied 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
The Raptors, who never trailed, led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but that dwindled to five points with 5:23 to play in the fourth quarter on Nance’s put-back dunk.
Toronto turned it on again and led by 13 after Leonard’s 3-pointer with 4:02 to play.
Detroit Pistons 86-98 Charlotte Hornets
Marvin Williams scored 24 points with a career-high seven three-pointers as the host Charlotte Hornets continued their mastery over the Detroit Pistons with a 98-86 victory.
Williams hit four of his triples in the third quarter, when the Hornets pulled out to a 14-point lead and took control of the game for good.
It was Charlotte’s third win over the Pistons in three games this season, and their second in the past 10 days.
The Hornets also got 22 points from Kemba Walker, 12 from Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and 11 each from Lamb and Willy Hernangomez.
Blake Griffin led the Pistons with 23 points. Andre Drummond finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds, Reggie Jackson scored 12 and Reggie Bullock 11.
Indiana Pacers 114-106 Brooklyn Nets
Victor Oladipo recorded 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers notch a 114-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Thaddeus Young scored 21 points while Domantas Sabonis and Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 apiece for the Pacers, who ended a two-game losing slide.
Rodions Kurucs scored 24 points and DeMarre Carroll added 16 for Brooklyn, who had their season-best, seven-game winning streak snapped.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 points while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Joe Harris had 13 apiece.
Oladipo scored back-to-back baskets to give the Pacers a 106-104 edge with 2:01 remaining. Bogdanovic added a three-pointer to boost the lead to five with 1:09 to go. Oladipo delivered the final blow with a three-pointer with 39.3 seconds left.
Atlanta Hawks 114-107 New York Knicks
Kent Bazemore scored 22 points and sparked Atlanta’s strong second-half defense to lead the Hawks to a 114-107 road win over the New York Knicks.
Bazemore was 7-for-16 from the field, 3-for-6 on three-pointers, and had six rebounds to help Atlanta win their second straight game and break a five-game road losing streak.
Bazemore hit a pair of free throws with 48.7 seconds remaining to give Atlanta a seven-point lead and ice the game.
The Hawks limited New York to 38 points in the second half and came back from a nine-point half-time deficit.
Atlanta also got 17 points and 16 rebounds from John Collins plus 15 points and 10 assists from Trae Young.
New York was led by Emmanuel Mudiay with 32 points. Kevin Knox added 24 points and six rebounds.
Orlando Magic 80-90 Chicago Bulls
Lauri Markkanen stepped up for the Bulls in the absence of their two leading scorers, guiding Chicago to a 90-80 win at home against the Orlando Magic.
Markkanen scored a season-high 32 points, one shy of his career best, and made the jump shot that put Orlando away for good.
Robin Lopez scored 14 points and Kris Dunn added 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls, who won for just the third time in the past 15 games.
Evan Fournier sank five three-pointers and scored 24 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Magic.
The Magic have lost consecutive games, having endured a 32-point home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Minnesota Timberwolves 98-124 San Antonio Spurs
Bryn Forbes poured in 22 points, 15 of them in the first half, as the San Antonio Spurs stayed hot with a dominant 124-98 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves for their third win in a row.
The Spurs used a 14-2 second-quarter run, efficient shooting from beyond the arc (19 of 33, 57.6 per cent) and stifling defense throughout.
San Antonio have held their past six opponents under 100 points, the longest streak by any team in the NBA this season.
Marco Belinelli added 17 points for the Spurs, with Davis Bertans tallying 15, Rudy Gay hitting for 14, and DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl scoring 12 each for San Antonio.
Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 15 points while Robert Covington and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 13 each.
The loss was the second straight for Minnesota and the fifth in their past six games.
Milwaukee Bucks 120-107 Boston Celtics
While Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to a slow start, his Milwaukee team-mates used their size and three-point shooting to build a 26-point first-half advantage as the visiting Bucks went on to beat the Celtics 120-107.
Antetokounmpo took only four first-half field-goal attempts and scored 11 points before the break. He finished with 30 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
Khris Middleton added 21 points and Eric Bledsoe had 16 for the Bucks.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 21 points off the bench. Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points despite missing 10 of 15 shots from the field.
The Bucks seemed in total control as they extended their lead to 18 with 9:20 left on a Snell jumper that made the score 100-82.
A 10-3 spurt once again gave Boston a chance to cut the deficit to 10, but Gordon Hayward missed a free throw.
Eric Bledsoe made the Celtics pay, scoring five straight points as Milwaukee pushed the lead back to 108-94.
Utah Jazz 120-90 Portland Trail Blazers
Ricky Rubio scored 24 points and dished out eight assists as the visiting Utah Jazz blew away the Portland Trail Blazers 120-90.
Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder came off the bench for 18 and 16 points, respectively, and Rudy Gobert contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who had lost four in a row on the road.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
The Jazz carried an 83-68 advantage into the final period but the Blazers answered with a 7-0 run Lillard to close the gap to 90-78 with 8:14 to go.
But Korver scored six straight points – a three-pointer and a three-point play – to start a 9-0 streak that gave the Jazz a 21-point advantage. The Blazers got no closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Memphis Grizzlies 99-102 Sacramento Kings
De’Aaron Fox capped a huge comeback with two go-ahead free throws with 1:17 remaining as the host Sacramento Kings took advantage of a late scoring drought by the Memphis Grizzlies to snatch a 102-99 victory.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Buddy Hield each added two free throws to ice the victory for the Kings, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Hield led all scorers with 28 points for the Kings, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and began the fourth quarter down 74-65.
The Grizzlies led by as many as 10 in the first quarter, 19 in the second and 17 in the third before seeing their lead melt away over the final 12 minutes.
A three-pointer by Garrett Temple helped Memphis retain a 95-88 lead with 4:03 to play, but the Grizzlies then missed their next six shots and mixed in a pair of turnovers, giving the Kings a chance to catch up.
The Kings finally overtook Memphis 98-97 on Fox’s two free throws with 1:17 left, after 3-pointers by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Hield had helped trim the deficit to one.
Cauley-Stein’s free throws gave the Kings a three-point lead, before Hield put the game away with his foul shots with 3.9 seconds left.
Sky Sports is the home of the NBA in the UK with live coverage throughout the week, including selected live games free to all Sky subscribers via Sky Sports Mix. www.skysports.com/nba will be your home for news, reports, video and features throughout the season while you can follow us @SkySportsNBA
(c) Sky News 2018: NBA round-up: LeBron James leads Los Angeles Lakers to win over New Orleans Pelicans
