Anthony Davis had a team-high 21 points, LeBron James ran up a triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers used a 44-point first quarter Saturday night to power a front-running 129-113 victory over the host Sacramento Kings.
Avery Bradley poured 16 of his 19 points into the first 12 minutes for the Lakers, who were coming off a 127-119 home loss that followed a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant on Friday night.
The Lakers improved to 7-0 on the second night of back-to-backs, riding Bradley’s four early 3-pointers to lead by as many as 24 in the first 12 minutes. James’ finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his 11th triple-double of the season, one off Luka Doncic’s league lead, and the 92nd of his career. Only Oscar Robertson (181), Russell Westbrook (146), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) have more career triple-doubles.
De’Aaron Fox scored a game-high 24 points, and Buddy Hield had 22 for the Kings, who had won three of their last four.
Portland Trail Blazers 124 – Utah Jazz 107
Damian Lillard continued his torrid roll with 51 points on 17-of-29 shooting from the field, and he added 12 assists to lead host Portland past Utah.
Lillard also made all eight of his free throws en route to his third 50-point effort over the past six games and fourth of the season. He is averaging 48.8 points during the six-game stretch. Hassan Whiteside added 17 points, 21 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Trail Blazers won their fourth straight game and fifth in their last six.
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley added 22 apiece but couldn’t prevent the Jazz from losing their season-worst fourth straight game.
Boston Celtics 116 – Philadelphia 76ers 95
Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Jayson Tatum added 25 and Boston avoided a season sweep at the hands of visiting Philadelphia.
Marcus Smart had 16 points, Brad Wanamaker chipped in 15 and the Celtics won for the sixth time in their last seven games. Boston played without leading scorer Kemba Walker, sidelined by a sore left knee.
Ben Simmons led the 76ers with 23 points, and Joel Embiid was held to 11 on 1-of-11 shooting. Philadelphia shot 36.9 percent (31 of 84) for the contest and 21.2 percent (7 of 33) from 3-point range in losing its second straight. The 76ers had beaten the Celtics in their first three meetings this season, including Dec. 12 at TD Garden.
Los Angeles Clippers 118 – Minnesota Timberwolves 106
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points in 24 minutes, his ninth straight game of scoring at least 30 points, as host Los Angeles defeated Minnesota.
Paul George, playing in his second contest after missing nine due to a left hamstring strain, had 21 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Lou Williams added 17 points, and Montrezl Harrell contributed 16 points and six rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who lost their 11th straight game. Andrew Wiggins, limited with foul trouble in the first half, had only 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Josh Okogie had 13 points, while Robert Covington chipped in 12 points.
Miami Heat 102 – Orlando Magic 89
Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, and Tyler Herro added 23 as Miami handed host Orlando its season-worst fifth straight defeat.
Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 24 points, and Nikola Vucevic added 21. Evan Fournier, who entered the game as Orlando’s leading scorer at 18.8 points, was held to 12 points, including five in the first three quarters. Playing with a sore back, he shot just 3-for-13 from the floor.
Butler and teammate Bam Adebayo played their first game since being named All-Stars on Thursday. Adebayo had a poor shooting night, going 1-for-8 with four points, but he grabbed 14 rebounds, had five assists and blocked a season-high four shots.
Dallas Mavericks 123 – Atlanta Hawks 100
Jalen Brunson scored a season-high 27 points to help host Dallas defeat Atlanta and secure coach Rick Carlisle’s 500th win with the team. In 12 seasons leading the Mavericks, Carlisle is 500-435, a winning percentage of 53.5.
Brunson, starting for injured NBA All-Star Luka Doncic, was 12-for-22 from the floor, two of them 3-pointers, with eight assists in his ninth start of the season. The Mavericks were also without Kristaps Porzingis for the second half in the back-to-back game.
Atlanta was led by John Collins with 26 points and 11 rebounds — his 12th double-double in 24 games — and 20 points from Kevin Huerter, who made six 3-pointers. Trae Young was limited to 12 points and left early with a sprained ankle.
Washington Wizards 113 – Brooklyn Nets 107
Bradley Beal scored 15 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter as host Washington rallied late and defeated Brooklyn, which lost Kyrie Irving to a knee sprain in the fourth quarter.
All of Beal’s fourth-quarter points came in the final 7:02, as he scored 15 of the team’s last 21 during the comeback after the Nets had led most of the game. Thomas Bryant pitched in for the Wizards with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Irving finished with 11 points. ESPN reported he will undergo an MRI Sunday. Spencer Dinwiddie led Brooklyn with 26 points, and Garrett Temple added 17, all in the first half.
San Antonio Spurs 114 – Charlotte Hornets 90
DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, and Jakob Poeltl added a season-best 17 on 7-for-8 shooting as San Antonio dominated the second half on the way to an easy home win against Charlotte.
The Spurs trailed by 13 points at the half but stormed back in the third quarter. After trailing 70-51 at the 9:22 mark, San Antonio ripped off runs of 13-2 and 15-2 to jump back in front at 79-74. Poeltl and DeRozan each had eight points in the pivotal stretch, which set the table for a 35-point fourth quarter.
Miles Bridges led all scorers with 25 points for Charlotte, with Cody Zeller adding 14 points and 12 rebounds. Malik Monk totaled 11 points, and Willy Hernangomez and Terry Rozier scored 10 each for the Hornets, who have lost two straight games and 16 of their past 19.
New York Knicks 92 – Indiana Pacers 85
Marcus Morris Sr. scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, and his jumper with 5:50 left gave New York Knicks a lead it would not relinquish in an upset of host Indiana.
Julius Randle had 16 points and a season-high 18 rebounds for the Knicks, who entered Saturday tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference but rode dominant defensive efforts in the first and fourth quarters to win for just the fourth time in the last 16 games. Taj Gibson added 10 points.
Domantas Sabonis had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who lost for only the third time in 11 games. Indiana scored only 11 points in the first quarter — its lowest output in a quarter all season — before being outscored 20-14 in the fourth. Myles Turner had 12 points, while Malcolm Brogdon finished with eight points and 12 assists.
Golden State Warriors 131 – Cleveland Cavaliers 112
Draymond Green matched his career high with 16 assists, including eight during a 44-point third-quarter explosion that propelled Golden State to a romp at Cleveland.
The Warriors shot 10-for-14 on 3-pointers in their third-quarter blitz, which began with a two-point halftime lead and ended with a commanding 105-78 advantage. Glenn Robinson III added 22 points for the Warriors, while D’Angelo Russell contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Collin Sexton had a game-high 23 points to pace the Cavaliers, who dropped their 10th in a row at home and 10th in 11 games overall. Kevin Love recorded a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Cleveland, which fell to 0-3 on a four-game homestand.
—Field Level Media
