Los Angeles large man Anthony Davis scored 23 of his season-high 32 factors within the second half on Saturday because the Lakers secured a 3rd consecutive NBA highway win with a hard-fought 121-115 victory over the Cavaliers in Cleveland.
Davis added 13 rebounds and three blocked pictures, serving to the Lakers overcome a gradual capturing night time from celebrity LeBron James in opposition to his former membership. The Cavaliers, honoring the league’s all-time main scorer, introduced James with a video tribute within the first quarter.
James related on simply eight of 23 pictures – one in all 9 from three-point vary – on the way in which to 22 factors in a nip-and-tuck recreation that featured 16 lead modifications and by no means noticed both staff push its result in double digits.
The Cavs’ 40-point first quarter noticed them up by simply 5, they usually led 71-70 at halftime.
Davis’s layup, after he rebounded a James miss, put the Lakers up 111-103 with 3:48 to play.
The Cavaliers reduce the deficit to at least one with lower than two minutes remaining, however James drove for a layup, got here up with a steal, and threw down a dunk, and the Lakers held on.
“We just had to impose our will on the defensive end,” Davis stated, acknowledging the Lakers benefited from the second-half absence of Cleveland’s Darius Garland, who departed early with a neck damage.
But he hailed a “total team win” after seven of the eight Lakers gamers who took the courtroom scored in double figures.
Donovan Mitchell, again after lacking 4 video games with a hamstring damage, completed with 22 factors, and Jarrett Allen added 21 factors and 14 rebounds for the Cavs.
In Oklahoma City, Philadelphia’s NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid scored 35 factors and drained six free throws within the last 9.8 seconds to assist the 76ers maintain off the Thunder 127-123.
Embiid got here up simply shy of his first triple-double of the season, including 11 rebounds and 9 assists to go along with 4 blocked pictures and a steal to assist the Sixers finish the Thunder’s six-game profitable streak.
Up by 9 with 49 seconds remaining, the Sixers noticed their lead reduce to 121-118 on rookie heart Chet Holmgren’s dunk with 11.1 seconds to go.
Embiid made two free throws, and he responded once more on the line after Holmgren twice reduce the deficit to 2 factors.
“Obviously, he put the game away,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse stated of Embiid. He added that in a league the place late costs have change into the norm, the Sixers have to complete higher.
“Great performance, a lot of good stuff, etc.,” he stated. “But as everybody’s seeing around the league, there’s a lot of wild finishes in the games. We’ve got to make sure we stay locked in.”
Holmgren impresses
Tyrese Maxey scored 28 factors and eight rebounds, and Tobias Harris added 16 factors for Philadelphia.
Holmgren delivered one other spectacular efficiency, main the Thunder with 33 factors to go along with six rebounds and three blocked pictures.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 for the Thunder, and guard Josh Giddey completed with 10 factors, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Giddey began regardless of an investigation by the NBA into an accusation that surfaced on social media that he had an improper relationship with an underage woman.
The 21-year-old Australian participant has declined to touch upon the matter, whereas Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated Friday that it was now “a league matter.”
In different video games, the Brooklyn Nets snapped a three-game shedding streak with a 112-97 victory over the short-handed Miami Heat.
Mikal Bridges scored 24 factors, and Cam Johnson added 19 factors and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who had all 5 starters rating in double figures.
Caleb Martin scored 22 off the bench to steer Miami, and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 18 for the Heat, who performed with out Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo sooner or later after surrendering a 21-point lead in a loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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