Luka Doncic scored 36 points to guide the Lakers to victory in Houston, the San Antonio Spurs suffered in Inglewood after leading by 24 against the Clippers and the Celtics reacted in time to reverse the Suns’ comeback.
Doncic visited the Toyota Center, Houston’s arena, his great rival during the six and a half seasons he spent in Dallas. The Slovenian finished with 36 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Lakers defeated the Rockets 92-100 in a key battle for third place in the West, in which the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves are also involved.
LeBron James finished with 18 points and Marcus Smart hit a key three-pointer with two minutes remaining to give the Lakers the lead for good as they recorded their sixth straight win, demonstrating their good form at the key point of the season.
Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points for the Rockets, Amen Thompson 19 and Kevin Durant 18. Durant is 68 points away from surpassing Michael Jordan as the fifth leading scorer in NBA history.
The Lakers and Rockets will meet again on Thursday, this time in Houston. Right now, the Lakers (43-25) are third in the West, while Houston (41-26) is fourth.
Wembanyama’s triple-double leads Spurs to 50 wins for first time in nine years
The Spurs were leading the Clippers by 24 points in the third quarter, but as usual they ended up battling in a close finish that was decided 115-119.
It was the 50th win – with 14 games still to play – for the Spurs, who are second in the West, after finishing the previous season with just 34 wins, out of the postseason.
Darius Garland was key in the home side’s comeback attempt, first with a four-point play with less than two minutes remaining that cut the deficit to less than 10 points, and then with another three-pointer with 39 seconds left that made it a four-point game.
Stephon Castle finished with 23 points for San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama had a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Devin Vassell added 20.
The Spurs (50-18) have the second-best record in the West (and the league) behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, while the Clippers (34-34) are in ‘play-in’ positions.
Brown rescues Celtics with 40 points
Jaylen Brown’s 41 points lifted the Boston Celtics to a 120-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns, who were led by Devin Booker’s 40 points.
The Celtics had gone 96-86 at the start of the final quarter, their biggest lead of the game, when the Suns went on a 10-24 run to make it 106-110 with 4:46 remaining.
But Boston reacted in time. Led by Brown, the Celtics regained control and, above all, closed the rim to the Suns in those final 4:46: Phoenix did not score a single field goal in that stretch and only added two points from the free throw line.
In addition to Brown’s 41 points, Jayson Tatum added 21 points, the same as Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard added 19.
The Celtics (45-23) are second in the East, taking advantage of the Detroit Pistons’ (48-19) stumbles to threaten the conference lead in this final stretch of the season.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scores 41 points and Jalen Johnson triple-double
In addition to these games, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Orlando Magic 124-112 with 41 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a triple-double from Jalen Johnson (24-15-13), his 13th of the season, second only to Nikola Jokic.
The Hawks increased their unbeaten streak to ten games, while also ending Orlando’s streak of seven consecutive victories.
Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) reaches 600 wins as NBA coach
The Golden State Warriors got back to winning ways against the Washington Wizards with a 117-125 victory after five straight defeats, while the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Dallas Mavericks 129-111 with 27 points from Zion Williamson.
Matas Buzelis led the Chicago Bulls to a 132-107 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, while in Brooklyn, the Nets fell 97-114 at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers
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