James, Lakers rout OKC for team-record 7-0 road start
LeBron James scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-99 on Wednesday night for their franchise-record seventh straight road victory to start the season.
Montrezl Harrell added 21 points, and Anthony Davis had 18 points and seven rebounds. The defending champion Lakers have won four straight to improve to an NBA-best 10-3. They surpassed the 1985-86 squad with the 7-0 road start.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 17 points to lead Oklahoma City.
The Lakers’ biggest lead was 31 points in the fourth quarter. The Thunder never led.
MAVERICKS 104, HORNETS 93 » Luka Doncic had 34 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and a career-high four blocks, Kristaps Porzingis scored 16 points in his return from a knee injury and Dallas beat Charlotte.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 18 points to help Rick Carlisle become the 16th coach in NBA history to win 800 games. The Mavericks have won four straight after opening 2- 4.
Porzingis played for the first time since having knee surgery in October. The 7-foot-3 Latvian played 21 minutes, finishing 6 of 16 from the floor and 4 of 9 from beyond the 3-point arc. He had four rebounds. NETS 116, KNICKS 109 » Kevin Durant scored 26 points as the solo superstar before soon centering a Big Three, leading Brooklyn — shorthanded after agreeing to a trade for James Harden — past New York.
Durant was already scheduled to play on both nights of a back-to-back for the first time since surgery to repair his Achilles tendon. He maybe had to do a little more than planned after the Nets shook up their roster earlier in the day with a four-team blockbuster highlighted by the acquisition of Harden.
With point guard Kyrie Irving missing a fifth straight game for personal reasons, the Nets had only nine players.
Julius Randle scored 30 points for the Knicks. They have lost five in a row.
BUCKS 110, PISTONS 101 » Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his 20th tripledouble and Milwaukee beat Detroit for the third time this month.
The Bucks built a big early lead with a flurry of 3-pointers. Brook Lopez connected three times from beyond the arc in the first quarter, when the Bucks were 7 of 11 from long distance.
GRIZZLIES 118, TIMBERWOLVES 107 » Jonas Valanciunas had 24 points and 16 rebounds, Grayson Allen scored a season-high 20 off the bench and Memphis rallied to beat Minnesota.
Brandon Clarke added 19 points for Memphis. Malik Beasley had 28 points for Minnesota.
CLIPPERS 111, PELICANS 106 » Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points, Paul George added 27 and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated shorthanded New Orleans.
The Pelicans were missing starters Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe. Together, they account for 46.1 points and 15.6 rebounds per game.