Lebron, Davis carry Lakers
James’ go-ahead basket keys win in all-l.a. clash
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers showed some rust.
They knocked it off with time to spare.
Anthony Davis scored 34 points and James had the goahead basket with 12.8 seconds left as the Lakers moved closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs by topping the Los Angeles Clippers 103-101 Thursday in the second game of the NBA’S re-opening doubleheader.
James had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the Lakers move 6½ games ahead of the Clippers in the West with seven games remaining. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points.
“It felt like a real game to me, two teams battling. … Can’t complain for the first game,” Davis said.
Paul George had 30 points and Kawhi Leonard scored 28 for the Clippers, who had an 11-point lead midway through the third in a game with deep ebbs and flows. The Clippers got that lead after a 26-5 run; the Lakers immediately rebutted with a 36-14 run to reclaim control.
And it still came down to the final moments.
George’s 3-pointer with 1:50 left cut the Lakers’ lead to 9998. James muscled his way to a layup on the next possession, and then George hit another 3 totiethegameat101with29 seconds remaining.
James followed his own miss down the lane for the go-ahead basket, then was brilliant on the last defensive possession — forcing the ball out of Leonard’s hands and covering George as his 3-point try at the buzzer misfired.
“We can’t have self-inflicted wounds, and I thought we hadtoomanyofthem,”said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, whose team — which remains short-handed with Lou Williams still in quarantine and Montrezl Harrell tending to a family matter — gave up 29 points off turnovers.
Thursday marked the NBA’S first game action in 141 days, the league getting back to work after the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown.
During the pandemic, a renewed discussion about racial injustice happened in this country — the conversation that surrounds this NBA restart. The courts have “Black Lives Matter” onthem,andthelakersand Clippers knelt together during the national anthem in a silent protest to demand equality.
New Orleans and Utah did the same in the night’s opener.
James — who is going to win his first assist title — had five in the first quarter to get teammates going, and then his first basket of the restart came on a dunk early in the second quarter to put the Lakers up 37-24.
But for a stretch that basically spanned a full quarter, spanning the second and third periods, the Lakers couldn’t make a shot. They went 1 for 10 to end the half, then 0 for 9 to start the third and the Clippers took advantage.
They turned a 50-40 deficit into a 66-55 edge in the third. Then it was the Lakers’ turn to rally, slicing the Clippers’ lead to 77-76 going into the fourth.
“It was a good game,” Leonard said. “Still had fun out there. It was great to be back on the floor.”