Luka Doncic notched the 2 hundredth 30-point sport of his profession Wednesday, whereas the Los Angeles Lakers capitalized on a depleted Denver Nuggets roster to safe a 120-108 victory over their Western Conference rivals.
Slovenian star Doncic, as soon as once more spearheading the Lakers offense within the absence of the injured LeBron James, rattled in 31 factors, with 9 rebounds and 7 assists because the Lakers cruised to a wire-to-wire win.
The Nuggets, lacking Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, have been by no means within the hunt after Doncic poured in 21 factors within the first quarter alone because the Lakers sprinted into an early 46-29 lead.
The Lakers maintained a double-digit cushion for a lot of the the rest of the sport, with Austin Reaves including 22 factors.
The Lakers improved to 43-25, leapfrogging Denver (44-26) into third place within the Western Conference standings.
Doncic, who joined the Lakers in February in a shock commerce from Dallas, has now scored 30 factors or extra in eight of his 16 video games with the Lakers following his blockbuster transfer.
“Like I always say, every day gets better,” Doncic instructed ESPN following the win. “That’s three wins in a row now so we have got to only maintain it going.
“We go game-by-game because if you think too far in the future maybe you forget about the next game. We know the (standings) are tight but we’ve just got to try and win every game.”
The Lakers’ victory ensured that the Oklahoma City Thunder should wait a bit of longer earlier than clinching the No. 1 seeding from the Western Conference.
Cavs lose third straight
The Thunder might have sealed the highest seed with a Lakers loss after dismantling the hapless Philadelphia 76ers 133-100 earlier Wednesday.
The Thunder might afford to relaxation Most Valuable Player (MVP) front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander however have been nonetheless far too robust for a Sixers group whose common season is ending in disarray.
With Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George dominated out for the remainder of the marketing campaign, and Tyrese Maxey lacking with a decrease again harm, the Thunder coasted to a blowout, wire-to-win after main by as a lot as 41 factors at one stage.
Seven Oklahoma City gamers completed in double figures with Aaron Wiggins topping the scoring with 26 factors because the Thunder improved to 57-12 — 12.5 video games away from the Houston Rockets.
The in-form Rockets in the meantime remained in second place within the West after rolling to their eighth straight win, a 116-108 victory on the highway over the Orlando Magic.
Jalen Green led the Houston scorers with 26 factors, Alperen Sengun offering offensive assist with 22 factors, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Elsewhere Wednesday, Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland slid to their third straight defeat in a 123-119 loss to the Sacramento Kings in California.
The Cavaliers fell to 56-13 after 27 factors from the Kings DeMar DeRozan — one in all seven Sacramento gamers in double figures.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ bid for a high six end — and an automated playoff berth — misplaced additional momentum in a 119-115 dwelling defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Zion Williamson scored 29 factors for New Orleans in what was solely their seventh away win of the season. The Pelicans (19-51) are already eradicated from postseason rivalry.
There was one other sizeable upset in New York, the place the San Antonio Spurs routed the Knicks 120-105 because of a sharp-shooting 34-point efficiency off the bench from Sandro Mamukelashvili.
The 25-year-old New York-born Georgian heart rattled in an ideal seven-from-seven three-pointers in a blistering 19-minute spell.
San Antonio improved to 29-39 with the win to maintain alive their faint probabilities of advancing to the Western Conference play-in match.
The Knicks are 43-25 and stay in third place within the Eastern Conference.
The fourth-placed Indiana Pacers in the meantime edged nearer to the Knicks after staging a late rally to down the Dallas Mavericks 135-131.
The Pacers trailed by 11 factors with six minutes remaining however conjured a late cost to grab victory, with Pascal Siakam ending on 29 factors. Bennedict Mathurin added 23 factors — 16 of them coming within the fourth quarter.
Source: www.dailysabah.com