Lakers put end to Pistons’ surge
Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma combined for 33 points off the bench, and the Lakers beat Detroit 113-93 in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Larry Nance Jr. had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double for the Lakers, who had lost their past three games against the Pistons. Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Kentavious CaldwellPope each had 13 points.
Tobias Harris and Reggie Jackson each had 18 points for the Pistons, who were unable to complete a sweep of their three-game California road trip. Andre Drummond had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy was unsure how his team might handle the attention associated with a surprising 5-2 start, including three wins in a row, and those concerns proved to be wellfounded as the Lakers took a 58-45 halftime lead when Brook Lopez hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Kuzma had 10 points in the second quarter, making 4 of 5 shots, including 2 of 2 behind the three-point arc. He finished with 16 points and Randle had 17.
Caldwell-Pope clearly relished his first chance to play against the Pistons, who drafted him No. 8 overall in 2013. He had seven points and three rebounds in the opening 10:28 before sitting after picking up his second foul.
The Pistons had a chance to cut their deficit below 10 points late in the third quarter, but Avery Bradley’s layup was blocked by Ingram, and Caldwell-Pope found Ingram for a dunk at the other end.
Thunder 110, Bucks 91: Paul George scored 20 points, and Oklahoma City dominated the paint during a 16-0 run to take control early against host Milwaukee. Russell Westbrook had 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Carmelo Anthony scored eight of his 17 points in the first quarter. Oklahoma City went from down four to a 20-8 lead on George’s jumper with 4:16 left in the first. It was essentially over from there. The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points.
Pacers 101, Kings 83: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 points to lead a balanced offense for host Indiana in a rout of Sacramento. The Pacers scored the first nine points and built a 55-30 lead at the half. “We got to do some cheering today,” Indiana guard Victor Oladipo said of reserves receiving extended minutes in a blowout.
Suns 122, Nets 114: Devin Booker scored 32 points, Mike James added 24, and Phoenix outscored host Brooklyn 24-8 in the final 6½ minutes. T.J. Warren scored 14 of his 20 points during the final period for the Suns, who led by 18 in the third quarter before the Nets went on a 17-0 run and took the lead soon thereafter. Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell had 33 points .
Briefly: Utah forward Joe Johnson will miss at least two weeks with a right wrist injury . ... Cleveland guard Iman Shumpert is expected to miss five to seven more days with a sore right knee.