Lakers blow out Warriors
James helps LA beat Golden State, Giannis propels Bucks over Clippers
LOS ANGELES: LeBron James scored 19 points and had plenty of time to sit back and enjoy Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-91 NBA victory over Golden State Warriors.
James, playing in his 1,300th regular-season game, added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in just 24 minutes on court.
He sat out all of the fourth quarter along with the rest of the starters from both teams as the Lakers closed out what had become a tough February with a dominant victory despite the continuing absence of star forward Anthony Davis.
The NBA champions, who lost five of their first six with Anthony sidelined, have now won two straight.
“When you lose a mega-piece like AD, it’s going to take some time both offensively and defensively,” James said of the adjustments required.
James said the Lakers were becoming more comfortable in the roles they’ve had to adopt with Davis sidelined, an absence that Lakers coach Frank Vogel said called on them to develop a “little bit of a new identity”.
Six Lakers scored in double figures as they avenged a narrow loss to the Warriors in January.
The Lakers’ win wasn’t even the most lopsided of the night.
That belonged to Memphis Grizzlies, who trounced slumping Houston Rockets 133-84.
However, there was plenty of drama in Boston, where forward Jayson Tatum drove for two baskets in the final 15 seconds to lead the Celtics to a 111-110 come-from-behind victory over Washington Wizards.
Tatum scored 31 points and the Celtics withstood a 46-point performance from Washington’s Bradley Beal to complete their first back-to-back wins since January.
The Celtics trailed by five with 46.9 seconds remaining. Tatum cut the deficit with a driving finger-roll lay-up and with 4.7 seconds left spun and drove through traffic for the go-ahead basket.
“Jayson’s will really shone through,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
“It’s been a tough stretch for (Tatum), but this matters to him, he wants to win, and he made big plays.” In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 of the Bucks’ last 22 points in a 105-100 victory over Los Angeles Clippers.
Down by seven early in the fourth quarter, the Bucks took a 101-100 lead on two Antetokounmpo free throws with 1:57 remaining.
With 10.3 seconds remaining, Khris Middleton found Antetokounmpo for a one-handed slam that made it 103-100 and after Kawhi Leonard’s potential game-tying three-pointer bounced off the front of the rim Middleton grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to seal the win.