Lakers defeat Nets as Irving, Schroder tossed
Former Lobo Snell’s ankle sprain will keep him sidelined briefly
NEW YORK — Andre Drummond had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Dennis Schroder scored 19 points before he and Kyrie Irving were ejected in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets 126-101 on Saturday night.
A nationally televised matchup already missing plenty of star power lost even more when Irving started jawing with Schroder and neither player stopped quickly enough for the officials.
The Lakers had led most of the way and were ahead 66-62 when Irving fouled Schroder with 9:41 left in the third. Los Angeles blew it open soon after the ejections with a 15-2 burst to open an 88-71 lead.
JAZZ 128, KINGS 112: In Salt Lake City, Donovan Mitchell scored 14 of his season-high 42 points in the fourth quarter and Utah beat Sacramento, extending its franchise-record home winning streak to 24 games.
Mitchell had his 18th 30-point game this season, powering the NBA-leading Jazz’s 19-4 run in the fourth quarter.
SUNS 124, WIZARDS 106: In Phoenix, Devin Booker scored 27 points and the Suns used a 44-point third quarter to rout Washington.
The Suns have won 17 of their last 21 games and are 37-15 overall.
76ERS 117, THUNDER 93: In Oklahoma City, Joel Embiid had 27 points and nine rebounds and Philadelphia beat Oklahoma City to pull even with Brooklyn for the Eastern Conference lead.
RAPTORS 135, CAVALIERS 115: In Cleveland, Gary Trent Jr. scored a career-high 44 points and severely short-handed Toronto scored a franchise-record 87 first-half points to rout Cleveland.
The Raptors, were without their top three scorers in Pascal Siakam (rest), Fred VanVleet (left hip flexor strain) and Kyle Lowry (right foot infection).
WARRIORS 125, ROCKETS 109: In San Francisco, Stephen Curry scored 23 of his 38 points in the third quarter and Golden State withstood an injury to rookie James Wiseman to beat Houston.
Curry had his sixth straight 30-point game, the longest streak of his career.
TRAIL BLAZERS 118, PISTONS 103: In Portland, Ore., Enes Kanter had 24 points and a franchiserecord 30 rebounds to help the Trail Blazers beat Detroit.
Kanter bested Sidney Wicks’ Portland record of 27 rebounds set in 1975.
HAWKS: Former New Mexico Lobo Tony Snell is expected to miss at least two games, including Sunday’s game at Charlotte, with a right ankle sprain. The Atlanta guard left Friday night’s 120-108 win over Chicago in the third quarter with the injury and did not return.
The Hawks say tests confirmed the ankle sprain and also showed a bone bruise. Snell remained in Atlanta and will miss road games at Charlotte and against Toronto in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday.
Snell’s status will be updated following the team’s return to Atlanta. He is averaging 5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in a reserve role.