Lakers hang on as Celtics miss shot at final buzzer
Portland tops Chicago with Lillard’s 3 as time expires
BOSTON — Anthony Davis had 27 points and 14 rebounds in his return to the lineup as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 96-95 on Saturday night when Daniel Theis missed a follow shot at the buzzer.
LeBron James finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals. Montrezl Harrell added 16 points for the Lakers, who lost in Detroit on Thursday when Davis rested a bruised right quadriceps.
Jayson Tatum finished with 30 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown added 28 points. Boston has lost five out of its last seven.
The Celtics played the final 10:28 of the game without Marcus Smart, who was helped off the court with what the team said was a left calf strain following a collision with Harrell underneath the basket. Harrell tipped in a missed layup and stepped on Smart’s foot as he came down.
The Lakers surged following the injury. James broke an 85-all tie with a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play.
The lead grew as high as 96-89. But a pair of free throws by Kemba Walker, a jumper by Tatum and turnover by James gave the Celtics life with 39 seconds remaining.
Boston got the ball out of a timeout to Tatum, who got a floater to go in to cut the deficit to 96-95 and set up the final exchange. Walker knocked away Davis’ jumper and then missed a jumper on the other end. Theis swooped in but couldn’t get the follow to fall.
TRAIL BLAZERS 123, BULLS 122: In Chicago, Damian Lillard hit a fadeaway 3-pointer as time expired to lift Portland past Chicago.
Lillard finished with 44 points and had
eight 3-pointers.
It appeared the Bulls had the game in control after Coby White hit a pair of free throws to give them a 122-117 lead with 11.5 seconds left. Lillard came down and hit a 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds to play.
Following the inbounds, the Blazers trapped Zach LaVine in the corner and forced a jump ball with 6.2 seconds left. After the jump, Lillard picked up the loose ball and fired a 3 from near the sideline.
HORNETS 126, BUCKS 114: In Charlotte, N.C., LaMelo Ball scored a careerhigh 27 points and had nine assists as Charlotte handed Milwaukee its second loss in two nights.
Gordon Hayward added 27 points, Malik Monk had 18 and Cody Zeller chipped in with a career-best 15 rebounds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks.
HEAT 105, KING 104: In Miami, Jimmy
Butler scored a season-high 30 points after missing 10 games because of the NBA’s virus-related protocols, including the go-ahead layup with 42.1 seconds left, and the Heat beat Sacramentoto end a five-game losing streak.
Sacramento had a last-ditch chance, but Richaun Holmes’ jumper was well short.
ROCKETS 126, PELICANS 112: In New Orleans, Christian Wood scored 27 points as Houston beat New Orleans to run its winning streak to five.
Zion Williamson had 26 points for N.O.
GRIZZLIES 129, SPURS 112: In San Antonio, Texas, Ja Morant had 19 points and 11 assists as Memphis beat San Antonio for its sixth straight victory.
De’Anthony Melton had 20 points and former Spurs forward Kyle Anderson finished with 16 for Memphis.
SUNS 111, MAVERICKS 105: In Dallas, Chris Paul had 27 points and 12 assists as Phoenix rallied to beat Dallas.