Lakers outlast Warriors in double overtime
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors 145-144 in a National Basketball Association double overtime classic on Saturday.
James, defied his status as the oldest player in the league at 39, scoring 36 points with 20 rebounds and 12 assists in his 48 minutes on court.
Curry, the 35-year-old two-time Most Valuable Player, finished on the losing side despite an outstanding performance scoring 46 points with seven assists.
Four-time MVP James settled the game by sinking his two free throws with just a second remaining on the clock.
The Warriors grabbed the one point lead, thanks to a superb 28-foot, three-point jumper from Curry with 5.2 seconds left.
Klay Thompson took the game into the second period of overtime after his 25-foot three pointer with seven seconds remaining.
All that came after Curry leveled the enthralling game with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.
James said the duel with Curry was one he would look back on when his Hall of Fame career is finally over.
“It’s something that you will truly take all in when you are done playing and are able to watch with your grandkids and say that I played against one of the best ever to play this game,” he said.
“Steph came to me after the game and said ‘how does it keep getting better?’”
Nikola Jokic and the defending champions Denver Nuggets held off a Philadelphia 76ers team without star center Joel Embiid, winning 111-105 on Saturday.
Embiid, the league’s reigning MVP, was a late scratch for the visiting 76ers, sitting out with left knee soreness after his pre-game workout.
It is the fourth straight season that Embiid has missed a chance to go face-toface with two-time MVP Jokic in Denver.
Philadelphia, who beat Denver at home this month, were also without injured pair Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris, but pushed the Nuggets all the way in a close affair.
Jokic put up 26 points and 16 rebounds while Jamal Murray scored 23 points and Michael Porter Jr scored 20 for Denver, who led 64-62 at the half.
Paul Reed made an alley-oop layup to make it a four-point game with 24 seconds remaining but after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained two free throws, Murray blocked Marcus Morris’s three-point attempt.