TORONTO (AP) — LeBron James scored 23 points, Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 128-111 in the NBA on Tuesday night for their seventh win in eight games.
D’Angelo Russell shot 7 for 14 from 3-point range and scored 25 points, Rui Hachimura had 14 and Max Christie 12 as the Lakers handed slumping Toronto a 14th straight loss.
The NBA’s career scoring leader, James shot 10 for 12 and had nine assists.
James came in having matched his career high with nine 3-pointers in Sunday’s win at Brooklyn. The 20-time All-Star took just one shot from distance against the Raptors, connecting with 5.22 left in the third quarter.
Davis sat the entire fourth quarter, while James checked out with 9:22 remaining in the final period after Los Angeles extended their lead to 27, 109-82. The Lakers visit the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
WIZARDS 117, BUCKS 113
WASHINGTON (AP) — Corey Kispert scored 27 points and Deni Avdija added 23 to help Washington Wizards beat Milwaukee Bucks despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double.
Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and reached double figures in all three categories by the end of the third quarter. That wasn’t enough for Milwaukee, which came into the night with a 2 1/2-game lead over Cleveland for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Jordan Poole had 16 points and a career-high 13 assists for Washington, and Jared Butler provided a lift off the bench with 17 points. Tristan Vukcevic, a 7-foot rookie from Serbia whom the Wizards signed in the middle of last month, scored 14. His previous career high was six.
Washington led 58-54 at halftime, then began the third quarter on a 12-1 run to stretch the lead to 15. Milwaukee shot 11 of 48 from 3-point range on the night, but the Bucks finally made a few near the end of the third, including Jae Crowder’s shot at the buzzer that cut the lead to five.
76ERS 109, THUNDER 105
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid put Philadelphia 76ers ahead with four free throws in the final 40 seconds and finished with 24 points in his first game in nine weeks following knee surgery, leading the 76ers to a win over Oklahoma City Thunder.
Embiid added seven assists and six rebounds in nearly 30 minutes — but most important, he brought the confidence that the Sixers can salvage their season and make a postseason run with last season’s MVP in the lineup.
Embiid was congratulated by Hall of Famer Allen Iverson after the game.
Chet Holmgren scored 22 points to lead the Thunder, who are in a tight race with Minnesota and Denver for the top spot in the Western Conference.
HEAT 109, KNICKS 88
MIAMI (AP) — Terry Rozier scored 34 points, capped by a beat-the-shot-clock 3-pointer in the final minute, and Miami Heat inched closer to an Eastern Conference playoff spot by holding off New York Knicks.
Jimmy Butler scored 17 points, Bam Adebayo added 15 and Haywood Highsmith finished with 14 for the Heat.
Miami had a 16-point lead cut to one with 3:23 remaining, but found a way to hang on — and Rozier’s eighth 3-pointer of the night with 34 seconds left, just in front of the New York bench, sealed the win.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 31 points for New York, while Deuce McBride added 24 and Jalen Brunson finished with 20 points and 10 assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 113, ROCKETS 106
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Naz Reid strengthened his case for the Sixth Man of the Year Award with 25 points and six rebounds, Anthony Edwards scored 19 points and Minnesota Timberwolves kept up their push for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a victory over Houston Rockets.
The Timberwolves, who have clinched a playoff berth, tied Oklahoma City at 52-23 with seven games remaining in the regular season. Denver, which hosted San Antonio later Tuesday, began play a half-game behind the Thunder for the top spot.
Houston had a seven-game road win streak snapped and have dropped two in a row following 11 straight victories that brought them back into the playoff picture. The Rockets (38-37) are now two games out of the Western Conference’s final play-in position.
Making his sixth straight start in place of injured Karl-Anthony Towns, Reid breathed life into an initially quiet Target Center crowd on Tuesday. The 6-foot-9 center is averaging 13.1 points and 5.1 rebounds and shooting 40.7% from 3-point range this season, all career highs.
NUGGETS 110, SPURS 105
DENVER (AP) — Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic scored 42 points and outdueled Rookie of the Year favourite Victor Wembanyama in Denver Nuggets’ win over San Antonio Spurs to retake sole possession of first place in the West.
Jokic also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out six assists. Wembanyama had 23 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and nine blocks. Three of Jokic’s buckets came on rare dunks, something he said he had to do facing the sensational rookie.
“He had like 600 blocks tonight, but we got the win,” Jokic said after Denver leap-frogged Oklahoma City atop the Western Conference playoff race.
The Nuggets (53-23) took a half-game lead over the Thunder, which lost 109-105 at Philadelphia earlier Tuesday night. The Minnesota Timberwolves (52-23) kept pace with Oklahoma City when they beat Houston 113-106.
CAVALIERS 129, JAZZ 113
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Caris LeVert scored 26 points and Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 12 rebounds, helping Cleveland Cavaliers beat Utah Jazz.
LeVert started in place of Donovan Mitchell, who missed Tuesday’s game due to injury management. Evan Mobley added 21 points for the Cavs, and reserve Sam Merrill had 18 points on six 3-pointers.
Cleveland scored 26 points off 20 Utah turnovers and led wire to wire. They stopped a four-game road losing streak.
Brice Sensabaugh made six 3-pointers and scored 22 points for Utah, matching his season high in his rookie year. Collin Sexton had 19 points and six assists, and Taylor Hendricks added 18 points.
WARRIORS 104, MAVERICKS 100
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points and Golden State Warriors overcame Luka Doncic’s 20th triple-double of the season to beat Dallas, snapping the Mavericks’ seven-game winning streak.
Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer at 33.9 points per game, finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. His 20 triple-doubles trail only Domantas Sabonis (26) and Nikola Jokic (23). Doncic also recorded his 48th 30-point game of the season, second only to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (50).
The Mavericks cut the deficit to 102-100 with 15 seconds remaining, but the Warriors were able to close out the game with late free throws from Klay Thompson.
Six Warriors scored in double digits on a night when Stephen Curry shot just 5 for 18 from the floor. Thompson and Chris Paul each had 14 points, Curry scored 13 and Moses Moody had 12.
KINGS 109, CLIPPERS 95
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists, and Sacramento beat the Los Angeles Clippers..
The Kings moved within one game of sixth-place New Orleans in the Western Conference as they seek to avoid the play-in tournament. Sacramento (44-31) is tied with Phoenix with seven games left, including a four-game trip that begins Thursday at New York. The Clippers are fourth in the West.
De’Aaron Fox added 20 points and seven assists for the Kings, and Keegan Murray had 19 points.
Los Angeles was without star Kawhi Leonard, who has a sore right knee. Coach Tyronn Lue said he hopes Leonard, who flew back to Los Angeles for treatment after playing on Sunday at Charlotte and has stayed relatively healthy this season, will be available Thursday against West-leading Denver.
