LeBron James scored 19 points and had plenty of time to enjoy the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-91 NBA victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. James, playing in his 1,300th regular-season game, added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in just 24 minutes on the court. He sat out the entire fourth quarter along with the rest of the starters on both teams as the Lakers capped a tough February with a dominant victory despite the continued absence of star forward Anthony Davis.
The NBA champions, who lost five of their first six without Anthony, have now won two straight.
“When you lose a mega-piece like AD, it’s going to take some time both offensively and defensively,” James said of the necessary adjustments.
He said careful film study helped the Lakers tighten up their defense and players felt more comfortable in their roles with Davis away — an absence that Lakers coach Frank Vogel acknowledged, urging them to develop “a little bit of a new identity.”
Six Lakers scored in double figures as they avenged a narrow loss to the Warriors in January.
James capped an unstoppable first half with a pull-up three-pointer that put the Lakers up 73-44.
Eric Paschal led the Warriors with 18 points off the bench as star Stephen Curry was limited to 16.
The end of the Warriors’ three-game winning streak became even more painful with the departure of Draymond Green in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle.
The Lakers’ win wasn’t the most lopsided of the night, either. It belonged to the Memphis Grizzlies, who defeated the slumping Houston Rockets 133-84.
However, there was plenty of drama in Boston, where forward Jayson Tatum drove for two baskets in the final 15 seconds to lead the Celtics to a 111-110 come-from-behind victory over the Washington Wizards.
Tatum scored 31 points and the Celtics completed their first back-to-back wins since January with a 46-point performance from Washington’s Bradley Beal.
Kemba Walker scored 21 points for Boston, which had 20 points and nine rebounds from Daniel Theis.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Wizards.
The Celtics trailed by five with 46.9 seconds left. Tatum cut the deficit with a driving finger-roll layup and drove through traffic for the go-ahead basket with 4.7 seconds left and Boston ran away with the win.
“Jason’s will has really shined through,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s been a tough stretch for (Tatum), but it’s important to him, he wants to win and he’s made big plays.”
Box late rally
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 17 of the Bucks’ final 22 points in a 105-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Down seven early in the fourth quarter, the Bucks took a 101-100 lead on two Antetokounmpo free throws with 1:57 left.
With 10.3 seconds left, Khris Middleton found Antetokounmpo for a one-handed slam that made it 103-100, and after Kawhi Leonard’s potential game-tying three-pointer bounced off the rim, Middleton grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to seal the win.
The Clippers went scoreless over the final four minutes, with Leonard and Paul George both coming up empty on multiple possessions.
Antetokounmpo, the two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, finished with 36 points — his fourth straight game of 36 or more.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and I knew it was going to work,” Antetokounmpo said. “(I’ve) tried to find my teammates, just go down low and create opportunities so my teammates can get an open shot or I can get to the rim or do something for myself.”
He added 14 rebounds and five assists, and Middleton scored 19 points with eight assists for a Bucks team that welcomes back point guard Jrue Holiday after a 10-game absence due to the NBA’s coronavirus protocol.
Holliday played 17 minutes off the bench and scored two points.
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