LeBron and Lakers keep Jazz quiet
Warriors demolish Trail Blazers to snap four-game skid, league-leading Raptors topple Wizards
>> LOS ANGELES: Although the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t won many games with defence over the last half-decade, LeBron James can inspire his new teammates to all sorts of feats that seemed impossible not too long ago.
James had 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and he seized control of an ugly game with nine points in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ seventh win in eight games, 90-83 over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.
Brandon Ingram scored 24 points while the Lakers struggled in their first game back from an Eastern Conference road trip, but still persevered to earn the final win in this franchise’s first 7-1 stretch since the last eight games of the 2012-13 season.
The Lakers produced one of their best defensive games of the season, holding Utah to the fewest points scored by an LA opponent since last February.
“There’s going to be games where you just don’t shoot the ball well, and tonight we turned the ball over,” James said.
“We’re trying to be a really good team, and there’s going to be games where we’ve got to do it defensively. Tonight we did that.”
At Oakland, Kevin Durant scored his game-high 32 points as the twotime defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors halted their worst losing streak in over five years with a 125-97 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
“We made shots tonight. It brings energy into the building. I am glad we got a win finally,” said Durant. “We were pressing, forcing ourselves to win a game and we just relaxed tonight.”
Klay Thompson delivered 31 points and Durant also had eight assists, seven rebounds and shot 13 of 21 from the field for the Warriors, who had lost four straight games.
At Toronto, Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and flirted with a triple double as the NBA-leading Toronto Raptors set a franchise record for wins in the first 20 games of the season with a 125-107 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Leonard also added 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Raptors won their fourth straight contest to improve to 16-4 overall.
Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby each scored 15 points and Fred VanVleet had 13 for the Raptors, who ended a two-game losing skid at home but still have eight wins in their last 10 at the Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors were powered by their best three point shooting night of the season, converting a season-high 17 from beyond the arc.
At Los Angeles, Danilo Gallinari sank all nine of his free throws en route to a 20-point performance as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 112-107 in overtime.
The Grizzlies were up by eight points with two minutes to go and appeared to be headed to victory but Gallinari drained three clutch free throws with three seconds left in regulation to force the overtime.
At Atlanta, Aron Baynes scored a season-high 16 points, Jayson Tatum added 14 and Boston beat Atlanta 114-96 to snap a three-game skid.
Boston, who had lost seven of 10, used a 45-point first quarter to put it out of reach early. Jeremy Lin led Atlanta with 19 points, and Alex Len added 17.
At Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Oklahoma City held off Charlotte for a 109-104 win.
Dennis Schroder — paired with Westbrook in the starting line-up for the first time this season — scored 23 points, and Paul George added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
At Milwaukee, Jamal Crawford made a jumper with 0.8 seconds left to lift Phoenix past Milwaukee 116-114.
Devin Booker had 29 points, and TJ Warren 19 for Phoenix. The Suns won for just the second time in their last nine games and ended a six-game losing streak to the Bucks.