LeBron James and Anthony Davis on Saturday combined for 63 points — 30 of them in the fourth quarter — as the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Sacramento Kings 131-127 to improve to 3-0, while Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to score 29,000 career points.
The Lakers, who led by as many as 15 points on the way to a 64-60 halftime lead, trailed 94-87 heading into the final period.
However, they opened the fourth on a 21-0 scoring run that included 16 points from superstar James, the league’s all-time scoring leader now in his 22nd season.
Photo: AFP
The Lakers twice pushed their lead to 14 points in the fourth, but the Kings cut the deficit to two with less than a minute to play.
James found Davis for a three-pointer and Rui Hachimura for a dunk and the Lakers held on for the win.
James finished with a triple-double of 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, while Davis put up 31 points with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
In Arizona, 14-time All-Star Durant scored 31 points as the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-102. He now has 29,010 points over 17 seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and the Suns. The 36-year-old has averaged 27.3 points over 1,064 games.
“I’ve got to give credit to the people who have helped me since I was a kid,” Durant said. “Teammates who passed me the ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me.”
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Clippers also came through in the clutch as Norman Powell scored 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter of a 109-104 victory over three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
The Boston Celtics survived the Detroit Pistons 124-118, the Cleveland Cavaliers topped the Washington Wizards 135-116, the Miami Heat outplayed the Charlotte Hornets 114-106, the Thunder took down the Chicago Bulls 114-95, the Memphis Grizzlies stopped the Orlando Magic 124-111, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Toronto Raptors 112-101 and the San Antonio Spurs edged the Houston Rockets 109-106.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with AP
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