The Lakers made up for their NBA Cup elimination on Sunday with a 114-116 win over the Phoenix Suns, while the Golden State Warriors fell 136-131 to the Portland Trail Blazers despite a Stephen Curry festival and the Brooklyn Nets delivered a 127-72 thrashing of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Lakers (18-7) and Suns (14-12) could have been in Las Vegas had they won their NBA Cup quarterfinal playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively.
Lakers beat Suns
The Lakers had a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Phoenix responded with a 35-14 run to go up by one (114-113) on a three-pointer by Dillon Brooks with 12 seconds left.
But it was a thwarted comeback, as the Lakers took the game in the final moments from the free throw line.
Luka Doncic finished as the top scorer for the Lakers with 29 points, although with many shooting problems: 7 of 25 (28 %) from the field, including a 2 of 14 in three-pointers (14.3 %). LeBron James contributed 26 points and DeAndre Ayton 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Devin Booker, in his return from the injury that kept him out of the NBA Cup quarterfinals, finished with 27 points.
Curry, hero and villain
Stephen Curry dazzled in Portland with 48 points, including 12 three-pointers, but in his last four attacks, with the Warriors playing for their lives, he strung together a missed three-pointer, a missed layup, a miss and another missed tip-in.
Despite those two late misses, Curry finished 12-of-19 from outside, a more than remarkable 63.2 percent.
This game between Warriors (13-14) and Blazers (10-16) had 20 alternating scores and 14 ties.
For the Blazers, Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant finished with 35 points each, while Deni Avdija scored 26.
Nets beat up
The Nets (7-18) had never been up by 30 points so far this season.
Today they defeated the Bucks (11-16) by 45, a real humiliation for a team that without Giannis Antetokounmpo has posted a poor 2-8 record.
Jordi Fernandez was unable to watch his men’s display live due to illness and was replaced on the bench by his deputy, Steve Hetzel.
As many as nine Nets players finished in double figures tonight in Brooklyn, led by Russian rookie Egor Dëmin with 17 points.
In addition to these NBA games, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 120-117 with 27 points and 10 rebounds from Dyson Daniels and 20 points and 15 rebounds from Onyeka Okongwu.
The Washington Wizards edged the Indiana Pacers 89-108 for their second away win of the season, while the Charlotte Hornets won in overtime 111-119 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Bulls 104-114 in Chicago and, in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-103 with 24 points and 10 rebounds from Julius Randle.
Filed under: Lakers beat Suns
With information from EFE
