Paul leads Oklahoma City past cold-shooting Lakers; Raptors win
Simmons hurts knee in 76ers’ victory
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Chris Paul had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 105-86 victory over the poor-shooting Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points and Steven Adams had 18 for the Thunder (42-25), which never trailed in its first win over the Lakers in four meetings this season. Oklahoma City pulled even with Houston for the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture with five games left.
LeBron James had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers (51-16), who had another possibly concerning offensive performance while dropping to 2-2 in the bubble.
Los Angeles, which has already clinched the top seed in the West and the Pacific Division title, never held a lead for the first time all season.
The Lakers went a season-worst 5 for 37 on 3-pointers and made only 35% of their shots overall. Los Angeles dropped two games behind Milwaukee for the NBA’s best overall record, which won’t provide a real home-court advantage in the NBA Finals this year.
RAPTORS 109, MAGIC 99: Fred VanVleet had 21 points and 10 assists as Toronto beat Orlando.
Toronto (49-18) has won its last seven dating to before the hiatus and three straight games since the restart.
Pascal Siakam added 15 points and Kyle Lowry finished with eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for the Raptors. 76ERS 107, WIZARDS 98: Joel Embiid had 30 points and 11 rebounds as Philadelphia beat Washington despite losing twotime All-Star Ben Simmons to a knee injury in the third quarter.
There was no immediate word
from the 76ers on the extent of Simmons’ injury, which occurred as he landed awkwardly after grabbing an offensive rebound. At the next break in the action he walked gingerly to the locker room and did not return.
CELTICS 149, NETS 115: Jaylen Brown stayed hot with 21 points on five 3-pointers as Boston rolled past Brooklyn.
Jayson Tatum added 19 points, and Gordon Hayward and Robert Williams each had 18 for the Celtics, who posted a season high in points and improved to 2-2 at Disney World.
Boston shot 20 of 39 from 3-point range.
NUGGETS 132, SPURS 126:
Michael Porter Jr. had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and Denver rallied in the fourth quarter to beat San Antonio.
Nikola Jokic added 25 points and 11 assists. Jerami Grant finished with 22 points.
JAZZ 124, GRIZZLIES 115: Joe Ingles scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as Utah kept Memphis winless in the NBA bubble.
Mike Conley had 23 points and seven assists against his former team for the Jazz (43-25), which improved to 2-2 in the seeding round and nudged ahead of Houston (42-25) for the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings.