LeBron’s triple-double leads surging Lakers past Spurs

LEBRON James produced his second straight triple-double, and Anthony Davis scored 25 points and took 11 rebounds as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 103-96 on Sunday to win their fifth straight game.

James finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. The Lakers went the entire 2018-19 season, James' first with the team, without winning five straight games.

Dejounte Murray single handedly kept the Spurs in the game, scoring 16 straight San Antonio points over a sevenand-a-half minute stretch of the fourth quarter.

Avery Bradley added 16 points for Los Angeles (5-1), while Kentavious CaldwellPope and Dwight Howard had 14 points each. Howard also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Murray led the Spurs (4-2) with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rudy Gay and Derrick White added 16 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench, with DeMar DeRozan scoring 14 points and Bryn Forbes hitting for 12 for San Antonio.

The Spurs lost at home for the first time in four games this season. Leonard comes up big in second half as Clippers defeat Jazz

Kawhi Leonard shook off a slow start and scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half to spark the host Los Angeles Clippers to a 105-94 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.

Leonard scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Clippers hold off the Jazz. He made just 9 of 26 shots from the floor and only 2 of 8 of his 3-pointers, but his solid performance in the second half lifted Los Angeles.

Montrezl Harrell scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds, including six offensive boards, for the Clippers (5-2). Lou Williams added 17 points, while Ivica Zubac chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz (4-3) with 36 points. Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 19 points. Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Doncic posts another triple-double as Mavs crush Cavs by 20

Luka Doncic recorded his second consecutive tripledouble and contributed seven points to a key run late in the third quarter as the Dallas Mavericks broke free from the host Cleveland Cavaliers for a 131-111 victory on Sunday night.

Doncic finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists for the Mavericks, who trailed 73-69 with 4:52 remaining in the third period before dominating the rest of the game.

Dallas took charge with a 17-3 burst that turned the fourpoint deficit into an 86-76 lead. Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith bombed in 3-pointers to pull away.

Seeking to avoid their first losing streak of the season, the Cavaliers clung within 90-86 entering the fourth quarter. But Hardaway hit a two-pointer and Kristaps Porzingis a 3-pointer to open the final period and immediately extend the margin to nine, after which Cleveland got no closer than seven.

Doncic shot 9-for-17 overall and 5-for-10 from long range en route to his 29 points. The Mavericks outshot the Cavaliers in the game 53.2 percent to 40.6.

Doncic’s 14 rebounds were the third-most of his career, two shy of the 16 he accumulated against Phoenix last April. The 15 assists equaled a career-best, set Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers when he went for 31 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists.

His 29/14/15 game was just the 20th in NBA history. The only other two players to do it since 1987 are James Harden in 2016 and Nikola Jokic last February.

Porzingis chipped in with 18 points, Jalen Brunson 14, Seth Curry 13, Boban Marjanovic and Hardaway 12 apiece, and Finney-Smith 10 for the Mavericks, who have alternated wins and losses in their last five games.

Kevin Love had a teamhigh 29 points, while Tristan Thompson added an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double for Cleveland, which led by as many as eight in the first quarter.

Jordan Clarkson totaled 17 points, and Cedi Osman, Collin Sexton and Brandon Knight had 10 apiece for the Cavaliers.