LeBron, Lakers stay perfect on road
Nets break away late to beat Heat
CLEVELAND, Jan 26, (AP): LeBron James went on tear in the fourth quarter on his former home court, scoring 23 of his 46 points to keep the Los Angeles Lakers unbeaten on the road with a 115-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Anthony Davis added 17 points as the defending NBA champions improved to 10-0 away from home. The win for Los Angeles came on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash.
James’ outburst in the fourth appeared to be directed at someone sitting among Cleveland’s front office group in the socially-distanced front row across from the Cavs’ bench.
BASKETBALL
He made 9 of 10 shots in the fourth, posing to hold his form after draining a 34-foot 3-pointer just before the 24-second clock expired to put the Lakers ahead 103-98.
James followed that with a stepback 3 and then drained a fadeaway turn-around jumper in the corner before shaking his head at Cleveland’ bench.
Andre Drummond scored 25 and added 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
Nets 98, Heat 85
In New York, James Harden and Kevin Durant each scored 20 points despite three relatively quiet quarters, and the Brooklyn Nets broke away with a big run in the fourth to beat the Miami Heat 98-85.
Kyrie Irving added 16 points for the Nets, who completed a sweep of the Heat in two games that couldn’t have been more different. Brooklyn won 128-124 on Saturday, then took the rematch despite barely topping its lowest-scoring game of the season.
Harden had only 10 points and five shots through three, then scored 10 more in the 18-2 spurt that turned a tie game into a 96-80 lead. Durant shot just 4 for 17 through three, then hit two 3-pointers in the fourth, the latter snapping a 78-all tie and igniting the big run.
Bam Adebayo had 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a strong follow-up to his career-high 41 points Saturday. But outside of Goran Dragic’s 21 points, there was little else for a short-handed Heat team that is without Jimmy Butler and Avery Bradley because of health and safety protocols. Tyler Herro, Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless are injured.
Timberwolves 130, Warriors 108 In San Francisco, Stephen Curry scored 36 points with seven 3-pointers, Andrew Wiggins took it to his old Timberwolves team for 23 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat Minnesota 130-108 after coach Steve Kerr shook up his starting five.
Playing the Timberwolves for the first time since his trade last February, Wiggins showed a steadiness that was missing at times when he played in Minneapolis. He drove the lane for pull-up jumpers, dunked, hit from long range, made three steals, blocked three shots and grabbed all six of his rebounds on the offensive glass.
Curry shot 11 for 21 overall and 7 of 12 from deep as the Warriors avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Malik Beasley scored 30 points with four 3s to lead Minnesota, which fell behind early with poor shooting and failed to gain any momentum from snapping a four-game losing streak Saturday.
Thunder 125, Trail Blazers 122 In Portland Ore., Shai GilgeousAlexander scored 24 points, Mike Muscala added 23, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped a three-game
losing streak with a 125-122 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Damian Lillard, who had scored 30 or more points in his last three games, had 26 points and 10 assists for the Blazers. Anfernee Simons had 26 points off the bench and Enes Kanter added 13 points and 22 rebounds.
After Portland pulled close in the third quarter, Hamidou Diallo’s floater from out front put the Thunder up 10598 with just over eight minutes left in the game.
Diallo’s layup extended Oklahoma City’s lead to 111-100. Carmelo Anthony’s 3-pointer got Portland within 117-111 with 3:25 left, but Darius Bazley answered with a 3 for the Thunder.
Celtics 119, Bulls 103
In Chicago, Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum added 24 after missing five games because of COVID-19 protocols and the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 119103.
Brown had another solid game following his 33-point outing in Sunday’s romp over Cleveland.
Tatum made three 3-pointers and had five assists over 31 minutes in his first appearance since Jan. 8.
Daniel Theis scored 19 points and Marcus Smart added 13 while tying a career high with 11 assists as the Celtics won their second straight.
Zach LaVine led Chicago with 30 points and shot 6 of 10 on 3s. Lauri Markkanen scored 18 and Thaddeus Young just missed a triple-double with
16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, but the Bulls dropped their second in a row after three consecutive wins.
Nuggets 117, Mavericks 113
In Dallas, Michael Porter Jr. tied his season high with 30 points and the Denver Nuggets overcame Jamal Murray’s ejection for a shot to the groin of Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to beat the Mavericks 117-113.
Porter was 6 of 10 from 3-point
range, including a go-ahead shot to start a decisive 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter after the Mavericks had rallied immediately following the incident involving Murray and Hardaway.
Luka Doncic had 35 points, 11 rebounds and a season-high 16 assists for his league-leading sixth triple-double. The Dallas star broke a tie for the NBA lead with Nikola Jokic, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Pacers 129, Raptors 114
In Indianapolis, Malcolm Brogdon scored a career-high 36 points and Myles Turner scored 11 of his 21 in the final 8 1/2 minutes to help the Indiana Pacers pull away for a 129114 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Brogdon also had nine assists and seven rebounds, a day after his poorest game of the season. Jeremy Lamb matched his season-high with 22 points as Indiana earned a split in the two-game set against the Raptors. The Pacers won this one despite losing AllStar forward Damontis Sabonis to a bruised left knee in the first half.
Toronto was led by Fred VanVleet’s 25 points and six rebounds. Norman Powell scored 24 points.
Magic 117, Hornets 108
In Orlando, Florida, Nikola Vucevic scored 28 points and rookie point guard Cole Anthony added a career-high 21 points as the Orlando Magic defeated the Charlotte Hornets 117-108.
Orlando snapped a two-game losing streak and bounced back from squandering a double-digit lead in the fourth
quarter a night earlier in a loss to the Hornets.
On Monday, Orlando led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter and took an 11-point lead into the fourth before Charlotte made a charge. The Hornets closed within 101-94 and later 115-108, but the Magic were able to hold their division rivals off behind the stellar play of Vucevic. The 7-footer also had 12 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season..
Anthony made 8 of 12 shots and 4 of 5 3-pointers and outplayed fellow rookie point guard LaMelo Ball.
Pistons 119, 76ers 104
In Detroit, Delon Wright scored a career-high 28 points and Wayne Ellington had another impressive shooting night for Detroit, leading the Pistons to a 119-104 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers.
Jerami Grant scored 25 points for the Pistons (4-13), who still have the NBA’s worst record but took advantage of Joel Embiid’s absence. The Philadelphia star was out with back tightness.
Detroit acquitted itself well in this two-game mini-series with the 76ers. Philadelphia needed a big game from Embiid to prevail 114-110 on Saturday night.
The Pistons never trailed in the rematch. Ellington scored 20 points, shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range. It was his fifth straight game with at least four 3s, tying a team record set by Joe Dumars in 1998-99.