Arya News - Luka Doncic and LeBron James lead LA Lakers’ charge to beat Memphis twice in three days as Oklahoma lose to Phoenix Suns.
Luka Doncic scored 36 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, and LeBron James added 26 points with 10 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 120-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
Jake LaRavia also scored 26 points, and Deandre Ayton added 15 as the Lakers followed a 128-121 victory over the Grizzlies on Friday with another one on Sunday.
The consecutive victories came after Los Angeles lost four of their previous five contests.
Jaylen Wells scored 23 points for Memphis, and rookie Cedric Coward scored 16 points with nine rebounds, all in the first half, but did not play after half-time because of an ankle injury.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 14 points, and Jock Landale had 13 points with 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth consecutive game.
Memphis guard Ja Morant was out with a calf injury for the 15th time over the past 21 games.
Devin Booker drilled the game-winning three-pointer in the final second as the Phoenix Suns rallied to silence the NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-105 on Sunday.
Luka Doncic led the scoring for the LA Lakers over the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles [Ethan Swope/AP Photo] Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns erased an early 18-point deficit to beat the Thunder.
Devin Booker drilled the game-winning three-pointer in the final second as the Suns rallied to silence the league-leaders with a 108-105 scoreline.
For Phoenix, Booker scored 24 points and handed out nine assists, and Dillon Brooks added 22, including a three-pointer over his Canadian teammate and Oklahoma City’s reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with 36 seconds remaining.
That gave Phoenix a 105-101 lead, but Oklahoma City tied it at 105-105 with 8.2 seconds left before Booker connected.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 25 points, and Jalen Williams added 23, but the Suns snapped Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak.
The Thunder’s 30-6 record remains the best in the league, while Detroit boosted their Eastern Conference lead with a 114-110 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers that moved the Pistons to 26-9.
Cade Cunningham scored 27 points, and reserve Daniss Jenkins added 25, including 21 in a dazzling second quarter for Detroit.
Star guard Cunningham added six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a blocked shot as the Pistons shrugged off the injury absences of key contributors Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren and Caris LeVert.
But Jenkins stole the show with his monster second quarter in which he made all seven of his shots, including six three-pointers.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, left, celebrates with forward Dillon Brooks after hitting the winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Phoenix [Rick Scuteri/AP Photo] Over in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs, led by 30 points from Donovan Mitchell, whittled a 13-point deficit to two with 1:16 remaining and were within two again with 3.8 seconds left, but Jenkins made two free throws to seal it.
The Cavaliers, touted at the start of the season as contenders in the East, finished the day eighth in the standings after being overtaken by the Miami Heat, who beat the New Orleans Pelicans 125-106.
The Indiana Pacers matched a franchise record for futility with their 12th straight defeat, falling 135-127 to the Magic in Orlando.
The Pacers have been a shadow of the team that fell in last season’s NBA Finals, with a string of players hit by injuries since star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the championship series.
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 34 points, but the Magic – led by 31 points from Desmond Bane – seized control with a 17-0 run in the second quarter and held on in the face of a late Pacers surge.
The Brooklyn Nets took advantage of Denver star Nikola Jokic’s absence to beat the Nuggets 127-115.
In their third game since Jokic’s injury, the Nuggets fell despite the return of Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon from long injury absences.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 27 points and set a career high with 16 assists. Braun finished with three points in 24 minutes while Gordon had 20 points in 21 minutes.
But without three-time Most Valuable Player Jokic, it was not enough, thanks largely to the efforts of former Nugget Michael Porter Jr, who scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his first meeting with the Nuggets since he was traded in July.