Suns eclipse Lebron, Lakers; Hawks rally as Celtics roll on

LOS ANGELES: Lebron James exploded for 38 points but it was not enough to prevent the Los Angeles Lakers from sliding to a 114-104 defeat against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

A testy clash between the Western Conference rivals saw Phoenix star Devin Booker ejected for two technical fouls during the second half before the Suns rallied to close out the win.

James led the scorers and chipped in six assists and five rebounds, but a Lakers offense still missing the injured Anthony Davis failed to fire consistently. The Suns’ victory saw them leapfrog the Lakers into second place in the Western Conference with 23 wins and 11 defeats. The NBA champions Lakers are third at 24-12.

Dario Saric led Phoenix’s scoring with 21 points while Mikal Bridges added 19.

HAWKS BOUNCE BACK: In Miami, a late burst of scoring from Trae Young gave interim Atlanta Hawks coach Nate Mcmillan a winning debut over the Miami Heat, 24 hours ater the dismissal of Lloyd Pierce on Monday.

However Pierce’s unsetled squad responded with a batling 94-80 win over last season’s NBA Finals runners-up.

Young ratled off 13 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to guide Atlanta to victory.

3RD STRAIGHT WIN FOR CELTICS: In another game, Kemba Walker scored 25 points as the Boston Celtics rolled to a third straight win with a 117-112 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Walker’s points tally included six three-pointers as the Celtics’ all-round offensive game subdued a Clippers team jolted by the sudden withdrawal of Kawhi Leonard shortly before tip-off at the TD Garden.

Boston improved to 18-17 with the victory, leaving them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference table. The Clippers fell to 24-13 with the loss and remain fourth in the West.

Elsewhere Tuesday, Nikola Jokic bagged the 50th regular season triple-double of his career as the Denver Nuggets halted the Milwaukee Bucks’ five-game winning streak with a 128-97 drubbing.

Serbian star Jokic dominated a one-sided encounter at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, as Denver never looked back ater taking the lead midway through the first quarter before romping to victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks’ scorers with 27 points, but the home side were always struggling to get in the game ater conceding a 37-23 lead at the end of the first quarter.