NBA ROUND-UP: LeBron James drops 37 as the Lakers triumph over Kings, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum star as Mavs and Celtics both win, while the Warriors lose at home to the Magic for the first time in a decade!
LeBron James produced yet another virtuoso performance as his 37 points led the Lakers to a 136-134 road win over the Sacramento Kings.
De’Aaron Fox had an opportunity to win the game with a very deep three, but could only hit the rim. Fox was animated immediately following the game after he appeared to be fouled by Westbrook while in his follow-through on his attempted game-winner.
James played more minutes than any player in Sacramento and top-scored with 37 points, seven assists and eight rebounds as LA won its fifth game in a row.
Thomas Bryant was brilliant for the Lakers, scoring 29 points alongside 14 rebounds. Russell Westbrook added 23 points, 15 assists and five rebounds from the bench.
For the Kings, Fox had 34 points and Domantas Sabonis added 25 to go with 12 rebounds.
LeBron James was once again dominant as LA won their fifth consecutive game on Saturday
ORLANDO MAGIC 115-101 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Paolo Banchero put up 25 points as the Magic won at Golden State for the first time in a decade
Paolo Banchero scored 25 points, Franz Wagner added 24 points and Orlando sent Golden State to its second straight home loss, winning on the Warriors´ home floor for the first time in more than 10 years.
Anthony Lamb scored a career-high 26 points off the bench for Golen State, 14 of those in the opening quarter with four 3s.
The Warriors welcomed back reinforcements in All-Star Andrew Wiggins and veteran Andre Iguodala making his long-awaited season debut but Klay Thompson was a late scratch with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. Stephen Curry missed his 11th straight game with a partially dislocated left shoulder.
DALLAS MAVERICKS 127-117 NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Luka Doncic continued his sensational form with yet another triple-double this NBA season
Luka Doncic had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his ninth triple-double of the season, Christian Wood added 28 points and the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 127-117 on Saturday night.
Tim Hardaway added 18 points for Dallas, Jaden Hardy had 15 and Spencer Dinwiddie 12. The Mavericks have won eight of nine games.
New Orleans played without its three leading scorers – Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum.
Jonas Valanciunas had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans. Naji Marshall scored 24 points and Herbert Jones had 16.
BOSTON CELTICS 121-116 SAN ANTONIO SPURS
A meeting of two stars postgame in San Antonio, between Jayson Tatum & Gregg Popovich
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, hitting the tiebreaking jumper with 33 seconds left, and NBA-leading Boston beat San Antonio for its sixth victory in eight games.
Jaylen Brown added 29 points for Boston, and Malcolm Brogdon had 23. The Celtics improved to 28-12.
Josh Richardson, Zach Collins and Tre Jones each had 18 points for San Antonio.
CHICAGO BULLS 126-118 UTAH JAZZ
Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combined for 71 points in the eight-point win over the Jazz
Zach LaVine made three consecutive 3-pointers during a key fourth-quarter stretch and scored 36 points, DeMar DeRozan had 35 and Chicago beat Utah.
After hitting 11 3s and scoring 41 points Friday night in a victory in Philadelphia, LaVine converted the three straights 3 to push the Bulls´ lead to eight. DeRozan passed Pau Gasol and Bob Pettit for 40th place on the NBA´s career scoring list.
Former Bulls player Lauri Markkanen starred for the Jazz, leading Utah with 28 points.
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