LAKERS RIP MAVS, RETURNING LUKA
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by a near triple-double from Anthony Davis, spoiled Luka Doncic’s return from injury with a convincing 127-110 NBA victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
Davis scored 28 points with 12 rebounds and nine assists and D’Angelo Russell scored 29 for the Lakers, who withstood a triple-double from Doncic – who had missed three games with a sprained right ankle.
Doncic scored 33 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists. But Mavs star Kyrie Irving was limited to 12 points on four-of-16 shooting and Dallas never led after the first quarter.
It was just one of the lopsided victories on a night that saw the Cleveland Cavaliers rout the shorthanded Milwaukee Bucks 135-95, the Boston Celtics top the San Antonio Spurs 117-98 and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 121-97.
However it was no blowout in Atlanta, where Dejounte Murray drilled a buzzer-beating jump shot to lift the Hawks to a 106-104 victory over the Orlando Magic.
At arenas round the league teams observed a moment of silence in memory of Golden State Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, who died Wednesday in Salt Lake City after suffering a heart attack.
The Warriors’ scheduled game against the Utah Jazz was postponed after what Golden State coach Steve Kerr called a “shocking and tragic blow” for the team and for the family of the 46-year-old Serbian, who played and coached in Europe where he worked with a number of future NBA stars, including two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.
“A lot of NBA players went through his hands and his influence,” Toronto’s Serbian coach Darko Rajakovic said.
“He helped a lot of guys to make the next step in their career,” added Rajakovic before his Raptors, fueled by a season-high 28 points from Gary Trent Jr., beat the Heat.
In Los Angeles, LeBron James said the Lakers’ victory – which pulled them back to .500 for the season at 21-21 – owed much to finally having a healthy squad.
“The most important for our team is about health,” said James, who scored 25 points with eight rebounds and eight assists. “If we get guys to be in uniform and be on the floor, we get the continuity, we could get some minutes together and see what we’re about.”
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points to lead the Cavaliers, who took full advantage of the absence of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo to notch a sixth straight victory.
The Cavs raced to a 22-2 lead as Antetokounmpo, nursing a bruised right shoulder, watched from the bench – just the second game that the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player has missed this season.