NBA: Lakers ride James’ tripledouble to win over Mavs
LeBron James had 39 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to defeat host Dallas Mavericks 119-110 in overtime Friday night.
James, who also had four steals, connected on 13 of 23 shots from the floor, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Anthony Davis scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Lakers, who overcame a 15-point deficit and won their fourth in a row. Danny Green had 14 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Luka Doncic also recorded a triple-double, finishing with 31 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Dwight Powell had 14 points for the Mavericks. Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma made his season debut, scoring 9 points in 19 minutes. He had been out due to a left ankle injury. The Lakers scored the first 7 points in the extra session and never trailed in OT. The Mavericks cut the deficit to 110-108 after a 3-pointer by Doncic with 2:59 remaining, but a bucket by Davis and a 3-pointer by James increased the lead to 7 to clinch the win for the Lakers. Davis' jumper gave the Lakers a 100-99 lead with 1:20 remaining in regulation. However, a 3-pointer by Dorian Finney-Smith put the Mavericks up 102-100 with 31 seconds left. A free throw by Powell gave the Mavericks a 3-point edge before Green's trey forced overtime. A 10-0 run to start the third allowed the Lakers to knot the score at 58 after a layup by Avery Bradley less than three minutes into the quarter. The clubs traded leads for much of the period before a late 9-2 surge helped the Mavericks go up 85-76 heading into the fourth. Dallas held a 58-48 advantage at the break. James led all scorers in the first half with 14 points while Davis had 13. Doncic finished the half with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Porzingis added 12 first-half points. The Mavericks dominated the boards, outrebounding the Lakers 61-41, including an 18-6 edge on the offensive end. Unlikely hero leads Nets past Rockets Taurean Prince collected season highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds as the Brooklyn Nets overcame a 15-point deficit and beat the visiting Houston Rockets 123-116 Friday night. The Nets improved to 2-3 and rebounded nicely from Wednesday’s 10-point loss to Indiana by outscoring Houston 93-71 over the final 32:31. Caris LeVert added 25 points for the Nets, who shot 49.4 percent while not being led in scoring by Kyrie Irving for the first time this season. Irving finished with 22 points and 10 assists to post his first double-double as a Net. Prince posted his third career game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and shot 9 of 17 from the floor. The forward also made 6 of 10 3-pointers as the Nets shot 59.4 percent (19 of 32) from behind the arc. James Harden scored 36 points for the Rockets but struggled to get a shooting rhythm most of the night. After getting 59 in Wednesday’s wild 159-158 win at Washington, Harden shot 10 of 31 from the floor and missed 14 of 16 3-point attempts. Russell Westbrook flirted with a triple-double with 27 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds but the Rockets shot 41.4 percent and were 12 of 48 (25 percent) on 3-pointers. Brooklyn held a 15-point lead late in the third but the Rockets trimmed it to 104-98 on two free throws by Harden with 5:32 remaining. Irving’s 3-pointer with 4:53 remaining pushed the lead to 109-98 but Houston was within 109-103 on Harden’s uncontested dunk with 4:10 to go. The Nets sealed it when Irving connected with Prince, who hit an open 3-pointer from the left wing for a 114-106 lead with two minutes to go. Irving made it 117-108 with a step-back 3-pointer from the right corner with 55.9 seconds remaining. Harden scored 11 points as the Rockets forced 10 turnovers and took a 33-24 lead after the first quarter. The Rockets ended the quarter with an impressive 18-1 run over the last 4:29 and forced Irving into five turnovers. Houston expanded its lead to 45-30 on a jumper by Danuel House Jr. with 8:21 remaining in
the first half but the Nets ended the half with a 31-14 run to take a 61-59 lead into intermission. Westbrook’s steal of Brooklyn’s inbounds pass and subsequent dunk forged a 68-68 tie with 8:16 remaining in the third quarter. The Nets countered with a 17-5 run and took an 85-73 lead on Prince’s layup with 3:48 remaining in the period and carried a 95-83 lead into the fourth. Antetokounmpo leads Bucks to easy win over Magic Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a double-double and the visiting Bucks used a big first half to breeze past the Magic, 123-91 in Orlando on Friday night. The Bucks took full control of their first meeting with the Magic this season by outscoring the hosts 31-14 in the second quarter en route to a 6241 halftime lead. Antetokounmpo tallied 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee, which bounced back after Wednesday’s 116-105 loss in Boston. Eric Bledsoe scored 18 points and Khris Middleton had 16. Reserves Donte DiVincenzo (14 points), Ersan Ilyasova (10) and Sterling Brown (9, 11 boards) contributed for the Bucks, who were 17 of 47 on 3 pointers (36.2 percent). Milwaukee outscored Orlando 36-2 on fast breaks. Evan Fournier recorded 19 points and Nikola Vucevic had 14 for the Magic, who have lost 3 of 4 and are 1-1 on their 3-game homestand. Leonard shines against former team in Clippers win Kawhi Leonard delivered 38 points, Montrezl Harrell chipped in 24 and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated San Antonio 103-97 on Thursday to knock the Spurs off their undefeated perch. Leonard, who did not dress for Wednesday’s game at Utah so he could rest, also grabbed 12 rebounds for his first double-double this season. “I have the heart of a champion and I just tried to stay focused,” said Leonard, who played seven seasons with the Spurs from 2011 to 2018. Leonard has now scored 30 or more points in three of his first five games with the Clippers, who he signed with as a free agent during the offseason. DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and Derrick White added 20 for the Spurs, who suffered their first loss of the young season dropping to 3-1. After so much time with the Spurs, Leonard’s relationship with the team eventually deteriorated. He was traded in July 2018 to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that sent DeRozan to Texas. Leonard went on to lead the Raptors to their first NBA title last season in a six-game victory against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. But the title wasn’t enough to keep Leonard in Toronto. The Spurs were eliminated in the first round last year by the Denver Nuggets.