Lakers vs. Blazers

 LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, D'Angelo Russell added 19 points with nine assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a three-game losing streak with a 122-119 victory over the host Phoenix Suns in the NBA in-season tournament opener for both teams on Friday.

Anthony Davis scored 18 points with 11 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday's game at Houston with a hip injury. Cam Reddish scored 17 points in a rare start and Austin Reaves added 15 after moving into a reserve role for the first time this season.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is questionable for Sunday's home game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a left calf contusion, the Lakers announced Saturday.

James, 38, suffered the injury in Friday's 122-119 in-season tournament victory over the Suns in Phoenix. It occurred with 4:22 in the first quarter, when James drove to the basket and took an unintentional blow from Kevin Durant's knee on his left shin. James gathered himself on the baseline before receiving treatment on the bench.

Phoenix held a 10-point lead late in the third quarter, but the Lakers finally clicked and outscored them 33-23 in the fourth. James finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while Durant had 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Elsewhere in the West, the Los Angeles Clippers moved to 0-3 since adding James Harden to their lineup, and this was their worst loss of all.

Facing the Dallas Mavericks, the Clippers took a double-digit lead late in the first quarter and then, well, became incapable of stopping the Mavericks from putting the ball in the basket. Less than two minutes into the second quarter, the Mavericks took the lead. Four minutes later, they were up by 19. At halftime, they led by 26.

The Lakers most recently defeated the Phoenix Suns (in Arizona) by a score of 122-119, which snapped a three-game losing streak (and was their first victory on the road). 

Davis played 36 minutes and had 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one block while shooting 5/14 from the field. 

Elsewhere, Luka Dončić added yet another accolade to his growing collection as he became just the third player in NBA history, after Michael Jordan and James, to have scored more than 40 points in 30 different games by the age of 25.

He contributed 44 points, six rebounds and six assists as the Dallas Mavericks dismantled the Los Angeles Clippers 144-125.

Against the Clippers, Dončić now averages 32.9 points per game – the highest average any player enjoys against any one team in their conference since 1976.

“I didn’t know that. I mean, that’s great,” he said modestly afterwards, according to the Mavs’ website.

Meanwhile, Victor Wembanyama finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks but his San Antonio Spurs succumbed to a 117-110 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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Sarah H

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