James ‘passes’ Bryant on scoring list in Lakers loss
Irving scores 45 points, Nets beat Pistons in OT
PHILADELPHIA, Jan 26, (AP): With a tribute to Kobe Bryant written on his Nikes, LeBron James moved past the retired Los Angeles great for third place on the NBA’s career scoring list, scoring 29 points in the Lakers’ 10891 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.
James scribbled “Mamba 4 Life” as he chased Bryant, the five-time champion, in Philly. James scored the milestone basket with 7:23 left in the third quarter. James entered 18 points shy of passing Bryant, and the layup gave him 33,644 points. James stands third with 33,655. Bryant finished his career with 33,643, all with the Lakers.
The 35-year-old James entered averaging at least 25 points (25.2 ppg) for the 16th straight season and has played 44 games this season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s career scoring leader with 38,387 points and Karl Malone is second at 36,928. James is on pace to pass Abdul-Jabbar in about three seasons. The top four scorers in NBA history played for the Lakers, who signed James as a free agent in 2018.
James passed Bryant in Philadelphia, where the retired Lakers star was born. James, who played in eight consecutive NBA Finals, has 6,911 postseason points with Cleveland and Miami that do not count in the official total.
James’ magic number and Anthony Davis’ 31 points weren’t enough to help the Lakers.
Ben Simmons had 29 points and 10 rebounds and Tobias Harris scored 29 points. The Sixers improved to 6-3 since they lost All-Star center Joel Embiid with a torn ligament on a finger in his left hand. Embiid hoped to return as soon as next week.
The Sixers led by 22 and watched that lead shrink to five in the fourth quarter. Al Horford, the underachieving free agent pickup, buried a 3 that pushed the lead back to 10 and had the packed crowd rocking. Horford hit a mid-range jumper and Simmons, who lost a tooth at some point in the first half, scored on a layup that gave the 76ers needed breathing room to seal the win.
James reached the mark against 76ers coach Brett Brown, who was an assistant in San Antonio when the Spurs swept Cleveland for the title and again when the Heat beat the Spurs.
Nets 121, Pistons 111, OT In Detroit, Kyrie Irving took over, scoring on an array of shots and even over a backboard that was simply in his way.
Irving scored 17 of his 45 points in the third quarter to overcome a doubledigit deficit and the Brooklyn Nets went on to beat the Detroit Pistons 121-111 in overtime.
The Nets went ahead 106-104 with 38.4 seconds left in regulation when Drummond was called for goal-tendTowns ing. Derrick Rose had an unforced turnover on the ensuing possession, then made up for it with a tying layup with 1.9 seconds left.
Irving missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, sending it to overtime.
The Nets and Pistons are among many sub-.500 teams in the Eastern Conference, likely vying for the last two spots in the playoffs.
Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Joe Harris scored 16 points. Nicolas Claxton had 10 points, and Dinwiddie added 10 points off the bench.
Rose had 27 points for Detroit, scoring more than 20 for the 12th straight game to extend his career high.
Drummond had a double-double in the first quarter and finished with 20 points and 21 rebounds. He has an NBA-high eight games with 20 or more points and rebounds and 40 in his career, tying Bob Lanier’s franchise record.
It was an impressive performance after missing two games for dental surgery.
Thunder 113, Timberwolves 104
In Minneapolis, Dennis Schroder scored 26 points and Chris Paul had 25 to lead Oklahoma City to its fifthstraight win, 113-104 over the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 37 for the Timberwolves, who cut a 20-point deficit to five in the final minutes but lost their ninth in a row. The All-Star center has scored 30 points in three straight games for the second time in his career, but saw uneven production from his teammates.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, had seven players in double figures. Paul had 10 points during a 31-12 run that appeared to give the Thunder control in the third. The Wolves managed to climb back late. Robert Covington’s 3-pointer with 1:07 to play made it 109-104, but Paul answered with a floater in the lane and Schroder added a pair of free-throws to put the game out of reach.
Andrew Wiggins scored 22 for Minnesota, and Shabazz Napier had his first-career triple-double with 10 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
scored 19 of Minnesota’s first 20 points, but the Wolves failed to find any early offense when he took a rest. The rest of the team went 1 for 13 from the floor in the first quarter, while Schroder came off the bench to score 10 in the period to steadily push the Thunder.
Bulls 118, Cavaliers 106 In Cleveland, Zach LaVine scored 44 points for another dominating performance against Cleveland and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cavaliers 118-106.
LaVine made 16 of 30 shots and had 27 points at halftime. The 6-foot-5 guard also finished with 10 rebounds and eight assists, falling just short of his first career triple-double.
It was LaVine’s second big game against Cleveland in eight days. He scored 42 points on Jan 20, including 21 in the fourth quarter when the Bulls rallied from a 15-point deficit to win.
Cleveland, which has lost seven straight and 12 of 14, had no better success stopping LaVine this time. He drove past his defender for clear looks at the basket, scored when he was double teamed in the lane, hit five 3-pointers and was 7 of 8 from the line.
LaVine was held to 16 points when the Cavaliers beat the Bulls in Cleveland
on Oct 30. The teams play for the fourth and final time this season in Chicago on March 10.
Tomas Satoransky had 19 points for the Bulls, who were coming off a home loss to Sacramento on Friday and arrived in around 1:30 am.
Kevin Love scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds for Cleveland. Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman each had 18 points.
The game was tied at 69 midway through the third quarter before the Bulls went on a 30-7 run to go ahead 99-76. Chicago outscored Cleveland 40-19 in the period.
Cleveland cut a 24-point deficit to 112-103 with two minutes to play, but got no closer. The Cavaliers had lopsided home losses to New York and Washington this week.
Chicago didn’t play like a team that’s been plagued by injuries. Forward Lauri Markkanen, the Bulls’ second-leading scorer, will miss four to six weeks because of an injured right hip. The 7-footer had an MRI on Thursday after experiencing soreness in the hip for about a week.
Jazz 112, Mavericks 107 In Salt Lake City, once again, Rudy Gobert was there to clean up the mess.
On the final few possessions, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year made a tip-in, blocked a layup just before it hit the glass, got a key rebound and made a free throw.
In all, Gobert had 22 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks to propel the surging Utah Jazz to a 112-107 comefrom-behind victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
Mitchell scored 25 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 23 for the Jazz, who have won 14 of their last 15 games.