San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
HANGING ON
The Lakers get 27 points from Anthony Davis (3) and 21 points from Lebron James and hold off a late charge by the Boston Celtics to win.
The Lakers started off their season-high, sevengame road trip by winning three of four before Anthony Davis was sidelined with an injury.
He returned just in time to help his team avoid a third straight defeat.
Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds in his return to the lineup and Los Angeles hung on to beat the Boston Celtics 96-95 on Saturday night when Daniel Theis missed a follow shot at the buzzer.
Lebron James finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals. Montrezl Harrell added 16 points for the Lakers, who lost in Detroit on Thursday when Davis rested a bruised right quadriceps.
“For me, personally, it’s getting back in attack mode,” Davis said. “Being aggressive. Crashing the offensive glass. Being in the paint. All those types of things. Everything that I did tonight.”
Lakers coach Frank Vogel
said the energy was completely different with Davis back on the floor.
“He’s built up. He’s getting into that mode right now. He’s starting to pick it up. The injury set him back a little bit. But we want him to be assertive. And when he’s assertive on both sides of the ball, we’re very difficult to beat.“
Jayson Tatum finished with 30 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown added 28 points. Boston has lost five out of its last seven.
The Celtics played the final 10:28 of the game without Marcus Smart, who was helped off the court with what the team said was a left calf strain following a collision with Harrell underneath the basket. Harrell tipped in a missed layup and stepped on Smart’s foot as he came down.
Smart crumpled to the court. He was helped to his feet but couldn’t put any pressure on his leg as trainers carried him to the locker room. An MRI is planned for today to get an extent of the injury.
Trail Blazers 123, Bulls 122: Damian Lillard hit a fadeaway 3-pointer as time expired to give visiting Portland a suprising win. Lillard finished with 44 points on eight 3-pointers.
It appeared the Bulls had the game in control after Coby White hit a pair of free throws to give them a 122-117 lead with 11.5 seconds left. Lillard came down and hit a 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds to play.
Heat 105, Kings 104:
Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 30 points after missing 10 games because of the NBA’S virus-related protocols, including the goahead layup with 42.1 seconds left, as host Miami ended a five-game losing streak. Sacramento had a last-ditch chance at the end, but Richaun Holmes’ jumper was well short.
Grizzlies 129, Spurs 112:
Ja Morant had 19 points and 11 assists, and visiting Memphis beat San Antonio for its sixth straight victory. Memphis shot 56 percent from the field and had seven players score in double figures.
Rockets 126, Pelicans 112:
Christian Wood scored 27 points and visiting Houston extended its winning streak to five games. Zion Williamson had 26 points for host New Orleans.
Suns 111, Mavericks 105:
Chris Paul had 29 points and 12 assists to lead visiting Phoenix past Dallas, which got 29 points from Luka Doncic.
Hornets 126, Bucks 114:
Lamelo Ball scored a careerhigh 27 points and had nine assists and host Charlotte handed Milwaukee its second loss in two nights. Gordon Hayward added 27 points.
Warriors 118, Pistons 91:
Stephen Curry scored 28 points and Alan Wiggins had 20 as host Golden State cruised past Detroit.
Notable
The Brooklyn Nets are bringing back Iman Shumpert, signing the veteran swingman.