Clutch Kuzma 3 carries L.A. past Nuggets in West battle

Antetokounmpo, Lowry miss showdown between East leaders

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Kyle Kuzma hit a 3-pointer with .4 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 124-121 Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

LeBron James threw an inbounds pass to Anthony Davis, who flipped it to Kuzma on the right wing for the game-winner as the clock ran down.

The Lakers, outplayed down the stretch by Denver’s bench, got 29 points and 12 assists from James, who hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Anthony Davis had 27 points and Kuzma 25.

P.J. Dozier had a chance to put the Nuggets up by one with 4.4 seconds left but missed the second of two free throws. Kuzma rebounded and the Lakers called timeout to set up the winning play.

Dozier had been fouled by Kuzma while driving the lane after a miss by James.

James had given the Lakers a 121-119 lead by converting a 3-point play with 45.7 seconds to go. Monte Morris made one of two free throws for the Nuggets.

The Lakers had clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference before their losing streak started. They are 3-4 in the bubble with one game to go. The Nuggets are currently the No. 3 seed in the West.

The Lakers took an 87-80 lead late in the third quarter after two buckets by Kuzma and two free throws by Davis. But the Nuggets went on an 8-1 run to finish the quarter in an 88-88 tie.

Davis grabbed the rebound of Kuzma’s miss for a slam dunk at the halftime buzzer that gave the Lakers a 64-59 halftime lead.

RAPTORS 114, BUCKS 106: Chris Boucher scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help Toronto defeat Milwaukee.

Though the meeting featured the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings, both teams were missing key players.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning MVP, missed the game after undergoing oral surgery. Bucks coach Mike Budehnolzer said Monday it was uncertain whether Antetokounmpo would play in the team’s final two seeding games Tuesday against the Washington Wizards and Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

For Toronto, Kyle Lowry sat out with a sore lower back, Serge Ibaka missed the game with a bruised right knee and Fred Van Vleet was out with a hyperextended right knee.

The Bucks already had clinched the

No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for a second straight season, and defending NBA champion Toronto was locked into the No. 2 spot, so there was little to gain for either team.

SUNS 128, THUNDER 101: Devin Booker scored 35 points, and Phoenix rolled past short-handed Oklahoma City to improve to 6-0 in the restart and improve its playoff chances.

The Suns have surged in the Western Conference standings. They entered the day just 1½ games behind eighth-place Memphis and a game behind ninth-place Portland in the race to qualify for a spot in the play-in series.

Phoenix center Deandre Ayton sat out the first quarter because he missed his coronavirus test on Sunday. He tested negative on Monday and was cleared. He started the second quarter.

With Ayton out, Oklahoma City led 37-23 at the end of the first quarter. After Ayton entered the game, Phoenix dominated the rest of the way. He finished with 10 points and six rebounds in just over 17 minutes.

Oklahoma City was without four of its top five scorers. MAVERICKS 122, JAZZ 114: Short-handed Dallas rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half to stun Utah.

Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Mavericks with 27 points and Seth Curry added 22. Boban Marjanovic had 20 points and nine rebounds. It was the biggest comeback for the Mavericks since February 2016.

Dallas won despite playing without stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who were both resting because of nagging injuries. Utah was playing without star Donovan Mitchell and coach Quin Snyder played backups for much of the game.

HEAT 114, PACERS 92: Jimmy Butler returned to the Miami lineup and everything started clicking again for the Heat. He returned from a foot injury and scored 19 points, Derrick Jones scored 18 off the Miami bench and the Heat kept T.J. Warren largely in check on the way to a victory over Indiana.

Butler also had 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals.