LeBron James scores 32 points as Lakers take down Jazz
Written by News on 26/10/2019
LeBron James scored 32 points and Anthony Davis added 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 95-86 at Staples Center on Friday night.
Utah Jazz 86-95 Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James had 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the host Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night in their home opener at Staples Center.
Anthony Davis added 21 points, five blocks and seven rebounds, while guard Troy Daniels came off the bench to score 15 points for the Lakers, who bounced back following their season-opening loss to the LA Clippers on Tuesday.
Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 24 points. Mike Conley chipped in 13 points but missed eight of his 11 attempts from the floor and four of his five three-pointers.
Utah forward Joe Ingles also had a tough outing, scoring just two points and taking just two shots. Reserve point guard Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 12 points, while center Rudy Gobert had eight points and nine rebounds for the Jazz.
The Jazz played without forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who was held out of the contest after sustaining a sprained ankle against the Thunder.
With the game tied at 43-43 two minutes into the third quarter, the Lakers rode a 31-12 surge for a 74-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter. James had 12 points in the third as Los Angeles outscored Utah 31-18 in the quarter.
The Jazz got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Overall, the Lakers shot 39.5 per cent to 41.4 per cent for the Jazz. Los Angeles finished with 14 turnovers to 22 for Utah.
The Lakers played without point guard Rajon Rondo (sore calf) and forward Kyle Kuzma (stress reaction, left foot) for the second game in a row.
Toronto Raptors 106-112 Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 25 points, and Kemba Walker had 11 of his 22 in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics rallied past the visiting Toronto Raptors 112-106 in their home opener.
Gordon Hayward had 15 points, and Marcus Smart 10 as the Celtics improved to 1-1 on the season.
Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 33 points, and Kyle Lowry had 29 for the Raptors.
A Hayward three-pointer put Boston up for good, 107-104, with 3:27 to go. A pair of Siakam free throws got Toronto within one, but the Raptors would score no more, with Brown hitting a three with 2:49 left for a four-point Celtics lead.
Minnesota Timberwolves 121-99 Charlotte Hornets
Karl-Anthony Towns poured in 37 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves posted their second road victory to begin the season by defeating the Charlotte Hornets 121-99.
Towns, who had a game-high 15 rebounds and eight assists, made 13-of-18 shots from the field, but he left some points out there with his 7-for-13 shooting on free throws.
Andrew Wiggins’ 16 points and Josh Okogie’s 14 points gave a boost to the Timberwolves, who won their first game in overtime at Brooklyn. Jake Layman and Treveon Graham each scored 12 points.
Minnesota’s 45-25 third-quarter advantage blew the game open.
Devonte Graham had his second big game off the bench for Charlotte, scoring 24 points. Miles Bridges posted 17 points while Terry Rozier had 11 points and 10 assists for the Hornets.
Phoenix Suns 107-108 Denver Nuggets (OT)
Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists and Jamal Murray added 27 points and seven rebounds as the host Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 108-107 in overtime.
Murray scored the game-winning points from the free-throw line with under 20 seconds to play.
Kelly Oubre Jr had 23 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, Frank Kaminsky had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Devin Booker scored 18 for the Suns, but his game-tying attempt was blocked in the final seconds.
Oubre, Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio fouled out in the first 1:05 of overtime after the Nuggets took a five-point lead. But Kaminksy’s two free throws with just over a minute left gave Phoenix a 107-106 lead. Murray hit two foul shots with 19.4 seconds left to put Denver back on top.
The Suns called a timeout, and Booker dribbled down the clock before driving to the bucket, but Torrey Craig rotated over to block it, and time ran out.
Dallas Mavericks 123-116 New Orleans Pelicans
Luka Doncic had a triple-double as the visiting Dallas Mavericks held off the New Orleans Pelicans 123-116.
Doncic, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points, Delon Wright scored 20 off the bench and Jalen Brunson had 14.
Brandon Ingram scored 25 as the Pelicans fell to 0-2. Derrick Favors and Josh Hart scored 16 each, Lonzo Ball added 15 and Frank Jackson 10.
Ingram’s jumper pulled New Orleans even at 109 with five minutes remaining, but Doncic broke the tie with a three-point play. The Mavericks doubled the lead, as Porzingis made a free throw and Brunson added a lay-up, while the Pelicans missed six consecutive shots.
Ingram cut the lead to three when he made a three-pointer with 2:36 remaining. Kenrich Williams made one of two free throws for New Orleans before Doncic made a lay-up and a three-pointer for a 120-113 lead with 1:23 left. Ball made a triple, but the Pelicans turned the ball over on their next two possessions.
New York Knicks 109-113 Brooklyn Nets
Kyrie Irving scored 26 points against the team he spurned in the offseason as the host Brooklyn Nets recorded a 113-109 victory over the New York Knicks.
Irving, who told reporters on Thursday that the Nets are “going to take over the whole entire city,” did his best to follow up that statement by scoring nine points in a late fourth-quarter run.
Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points to highlight five players with double-digit scoring for Brooklyn, who won three of four meetings against New York in the Battle of the Boroughs in 2018-19.
Allonzo Trier scored 22 and third overall pick RJ Barrett and Kevin Knox each chipped in 16 for the Knicks, who lost their second straight game despite shooting 68.0 percent (17-of-25) from three-point range.
New York erased a 19-point deficit as former Brooklyn guard Wayne Ellington sank a pair of three-pointers and Barrett added a bucket to give the Knicks a 109-106 lead with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter.
Irving answered with a pull-up jumper and a step-back three-pointer to propel the Nets to a 111-109 advantage with 22.4 seconds remaining.
Julius Randle’s bid to forge a tie was thwarted after the ball caromed off his foot and bounced out of bounds. Dinwiddie sank a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Portland Trail Blazers 122-112 Sacramento Kings
Damian Lillard scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 122-112 road victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Hassan Whiteside scored 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting and collected nine rebounds as Portland evened their record at 1-1. CJ McCollum added 19 points and Anfernee Simons scored 15 off the bench for the Trail Blazers.
De’Aaron Fox recorded 28 points, six rebounds and five assists for the winless Kings, who fell to their second defeat of the season. Buddy Hield scored 21 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 off the bench, Harrison Barnes tallied 13 and reserve Richaun Holmes had 10.
Sacramento were within 102-97 after Fox made two free throws with 6:46 left. Portland began to pull away, though, as Zach Collins hit two free throws and Lillard added a lay-up and a three-pointer to make it 109-97 with 5:51 remaining.
A short time later, McCollum scored five straight points to push the lead to 119-104 with 3:27 remaining and the Trail Blazers cruised to the finish.
Washington Wizards 97-85 Oklahoma City Thunder
Thomas Bryant led the way with 21 points as the Washington Wizards used a big late push to escape with a 97-85 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
After a lead evaporated into a tie with 4:27 to play, seven points in less than a minute put the Wizards back in control.
The run started with a pull-up jumper from rookie Rui Hachimura, ending a stretch of nearly four minutes with just one Washington bucket. That opened the floodgates, as a few moments after Hachimura’s shot found the bucket, the Wizards were once again firmly in control.
Bryant finished 9-of-16 from the floor and added 11 rebounds. Hachimura added 19 points, while Bradley Beal scored 17.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 28 points, his second consecutive career-high scoring mark in his first two games with Oklahoma City after being traded from the Clippers in the offseason.
Chicago Bulls 110-102 Memphis Grizzlies
Zach LaVine scored 37 points and Coby White added 25 as the Chicago Bulls stormed back for a 110-102 win over the host Memphis Grizzlies.
The Bulls trailed by as many as 14 points and did not get their first lead of the night until White hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 95-94 with 3:54 to go. Chicago outscored Memphis 63-42 during the second half.
Jaren Jackson Jr posted a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Memphis in their home opener. Teammate Jonas Valanciunas also notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.
The Bulls ended the game on a 12-1 run in the final 2:17. White and LaVine made back-to-back lay-ups to spark the outburst, as Tomas Satoransky and LaVine combined to go 6-for-6 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
(c) Sky Sports 2019: LeBron James scores 32 points as Lakers take down Jazz
