Luka Doncic scored 36 points to lead the in-form Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-92 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday for their sixth straight victory.
A key showdown between the third- and fourth-ranked teams in the Western Conference ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive road victory.
advertise
The win gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion against the Rockets (41-26) in their fight for a Western Conference playoff spot.
Doncic once again helped the Lakers break through the bottom line, while tenacious defense limited the Rockets’ scoring.
LeBron James scored 18 points, Austin Reeves scored 15 points, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points to become the Rockets’ scoring leader.
“We held them to 92 points, which is great for this team. Our defense did a great job,” Doncic said.
“We could have done better, but the most important thing is that we won. We have to keep going.”
advertise
The San Antonio Spurs used another balanced offensive performance to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 to solidify their second spot in the Western Conference.
Stephon Castle scored a team-high 23 points, while Victor Wembanyama had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks in another dominant all-around performance.
The Spurs, who have now won 18 of their last 20 games, fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first quarter to win.
“They pushed us in the first quarter and sometimes the basketball didn’t work,” Wembanyama said.
“So we had to get a little sick.”
advertise
The Spurs improved to 50-18 and are firmly locked in the Oklahoma City Thunder (53-15) at the top of the standings.
The Boston Celtics defeated the visiting Phoenix Suns 120-112 to continue chasing the Detroit Pistons atop the Eastern Conference.
A high-scoring individual showdown between Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Phoenix’s Devin Booker resulted in the Celtics’ victory with 41 and 40 points respectively.
Brown got 21 points each from Jayson Tatum and Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard once again showed his shooting talent on the bench, scoring 19 points, 15 of which came from three-pointers.
advertise
Boston has won two straight and is 45-23, three and a half games behind the leader Detroit Pistons (48-19).
Phoenix fell to 39-29, seventh in the Western Conference and just outside of an automatic playoff spot.
RCW/PST