The Los Angeles Lakers, fueled by 40 points from Anthony Davis and 31 from LeBron James, on Thursday pulled off another NBA thriller, beating the Washington Wizards 134-131 in overtime.
One day after James reeled off 34 points — 19 of them in the fourth quarter — to key a come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Lakers had to dig deep again against a Wizards team tied for the worst record in the league.
James’ four points in overtime included a three-pointer that tied it at 131-131. He fed Davis for a dunk and capped the scoring with a free throw.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA Today
James, already the league’s all-time leading scorer, is now nine points away from becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points in regular seasons.
Jordan Poole scored a season-high 34 points and Marvin Bagley III added a 23 for Washington, who dropped their 13th straight, but Lakers coach Darvin Ham said the young, hungry Wizards were tough opponents — especially on the heels of Wednesday’s draining victory.
“They put pressure, they’re a tough team to play coming off a back-to-back, really high emotional game from last night, but we found a way, we found a way to win,” Ham said. “Our guys pulled together when we needed to and made the plays when we needed to.”
In Denver, Colorado, star big man Nikola Jokic missed out on a fifth straight triple-double, but Michael Porter Jr’s 30 points fueled the Nuggets in a 103-97 victory over the Miami Heat in an NBA Finals rematch.
Porter added 11 rebounds, helping fill the void after Jamal Murray departed in the second quarter with a sprained ankle.
Jokic finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Nuggets fended off Miami’s fourth-quarter rally.
Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and Butler added 21 for the Heat, who were without injured Tyler Herro, Josh Richardson and Kevin Love, and saw their five-game winning streak end.
A trip to Madison Square Garden was just what Golden State star Stephen Curry needed to break out of his scoring doldrums.
Curry scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors to a 110-99 victory over the New York Knicks, bouncing back from a scoreless first half in the Warriors’ win over the Wizards on Tuesday.
Curry said he fed off the energy at Madison Square Garden — an arena steeped in NBA history and where he broke the record for career three-pointers in 2021.
“It didn’t hurt that in the Garden I had a good vibe and a good flow going,” Curry said. “It’s always fun. This is a special place.”
Jonathan Kuminga added 25 points for Golden State, who grabbed a quick 14-0 lead and never trailed.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points to lead the Knicks, who had the deficit down to four midway through the fourth quarter, but with key contributors Julius Randle and O.G. Anunoby sidelined could never gain the upper hand.
Another sparkling effort from rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama helped the San Antonio Spurs snap a five-game losing streak with a 132-118 victory over Western Conference contenders Oklahoma City.
French star Wembanyama scored 28 points with 13 rebounds and blocked five shots.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Milwaukee in the Bucks’ 111-99 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.
Elsewhere, the Nets downed the Hawks 124-97, the Suns eclipsed the Rockets 110-105 and the Magic silenced the Jazz 115-107.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
The CTBC Brothers from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Friday announced they reached an agreement with the team’s shortstop Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) to extend his contract by 10 years in a deal that could worth up to NT $147.88 million (US$4.5 million). Including a NT$10 million incentive bonus, the 24-year- old’s new contract stipulates that his monthly salary will be NT$660,000 starting this year, increasing to NT$1.2 million from the fifth year of the deal. Chiang’s new agreement also comes with a caveat in the form of a “player option” where he would have the choice to become a free
RSS