Schröder returns, helps Lakers end skid
Toronto wins despite no head coach or Siakam
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 28 points, Dennis Schröder added 22 in his return to the Lakers’ lineup, and Los Angeles snapped its four-game losing streak with a 102-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Montrezl Harrell had 17 points, and James added 11 rebounds and seven assists as the defending NBA champions avoided their longest losing streak since March 2019.
The fresh-legged Schröder was outstanding after a four-game absence under the NBA’s health and safety protocols, scoring 13 points in the second half and leading the Lakers’ decisive surge on both ends of the court.
Los Angeles pushed ahead in the third quarter and hung on comfortably for only its second win since losing All-Star selection Anthony Davis to a calf injury 12 days ago.
Damian Lillard scored 24 of his 35 points in the first half for the Blazers, who lost their fourth straight. Portland committed 16 turnovers while losing to the Lakers at Staples Center for the first time since November 2018.
The Lakers broke open a close game with a 14-4 run led by Schröder late in the third quarter..
RAPTORS 122, ROCKETS 111: In Tampa, Fla., Norman Powell scored 30 points, Kyle Lowry had a triple-double and depleted Toronto beat Houston.
The Raptors were without head coach Nick Norse, five assistant coaches and starting forward Pascal Siakam, a former New Mexico State Aggie, in accordance with the NBA’s health and safety protocols regarding the coronavirus. Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo directed the team.
Siakam was listed as out about two hours before the game, indicating that he either has a testing issue or a contact tracing issue. He played Wednesday night in Miami in the Raptors’ loss to the Heat.
Lowry had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Raptors hand the Rockets their 10th straight loss. Victor Oladipo led the Rockets with 27 points, and John Wall had 21 points and 12 assists.
HEAT 124, JAZZ 116: In Miami, Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 33 points, Goran Dragic tied his season best with 26 and Miami help on to beat NBA-leading Utah, handing the Jazz their third loss in their last 25 games. Donovan Mitchell scored 30 for the Jazz. They dropped to 26-7.
CELTICS 118, PACERS 112: In Boston, Kemba Walker made two late free throws and scored a season-high 32 points to help Boston beat Indiana and snap a threegame losing streak.
Daniel Theis added 17 points, and Jaylen Brown had 15.
CLIPPERS 119, GRIZZLIES 99: In Memphis, Tenn., Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, Lou Williams added 17 and Los Angeles beat Memphis to split a twogame series.
Terance Mann, Nicolas Batum and Paul George each had 13 points for the Clippers, 122-94 losers on Thursday night.
Jonas Valanciunas led Memphis with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Ja Morant scored 20 points before he was ejected, receiving a pair of technical for arguing a no-call with 2:18 remaining.
SUNS 106, BULLS 97: In Chicago, Devin
Booker and Deandre Ayton each scored 22 points and Phoenix rallied to iwn for the 10th time in 12 games..
Chris Paul, who’ll join Booker at the All-Star Game, added 14 points, 15 assists and six rebounds to help the Suns.
Zach LaVine scored 24 points for Chicago. The Bulls had won three in a row.
WARRIORS 130, HORNETS 121: In San Francisco, Draymond Green had a tripledouble with a career-high 19 assists along with 12 rebounds and 11 points to help Golden State beat Charlotte for its first three-game winning streak of the season.
Stephen Curry added 29 points and eight assists after he sat out with an illness Saturday night in his hometown of Charlotte. Terry Rozier made an off-balance jumper from the left corner as time expired for a 102-100 win by the Hornets. Rozier led Charlotte with 24 points. THUNDER 118, HAWKS 109: In Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and the Thunder beat Atlanta after changing uniforms at halftime because a mix-up left the teams wearing similar colors at the start.
The Thunder began the game wearing their sunset orange uniforms while the Hawks wore red, making it difficult to distinguish between the teams. Oklahoma City said in a statement that the Hawks wore the incorrect uniform color. The team said the league should have caught the error, but because the Hawks only brought red uniforms on their trip, the Thunder changed to white for the second half.
John Collins scored 25 points for the Hawks.
KINGS 110, PISTONS 107: In Detroit, De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points and Sacramento beat Detroit to snap a nine-game losing streak. Jerami Grant led Detroit with 30 points.