Sports

LeBron James Sets All-Time Wins Record, Luka Doncic Stars in Lakers’ Big Win; Blazers Down Clippers

By Samira Vishwas

It was a thrilling night of action in the NBA, with LeBron James making history as the most all-time wins in the tournamnet as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 127-113. Luka Doncic led the way with 42 points. Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 114-104, while the Charlotte Hornets secured a comfortable 117-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets, led by Brandon Miller.

Los Angeles Lakers Beat Cleveland Cavaliers

Luka Doncic had 42 points and 12 assists, and LeBron James scored 14 points in his NBA-record 1,229th career win, powering the Los Angeles Lakers to a decisive 127-113 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.

Los Angeles (50-26) won for the 13th time in its last 14 games, clinching a playoff spot and the Pacific Division title earlier in the night when the Phoenix Suns lost. The Lakers sit third in the Western Conference, two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets.

James surpassed Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most combined regular season and playoff wins. The all-time scoring leader added five rebounds and six assists against the Cavaliers, who he spent 11 seasons with over two stints.

MVP candidate Doncic returned from an automatic one-game suspension for picking up his 16th technical foul. He became the third-youngest player with 15,000 career points at 27 years, 31 days (James holds the mark at 25, 79).

Jarrett Allen scored 18 points for Cleveland (47-29), which remained one game behind the third-place New York Knicks in the East. James Harden had 17 points and Donovan Mitchell chipped in 10 points and six assists. The Cavaliers, whose magic number to make the playoffs is one, have won six of their last eight games and are 16-6 with Harden in the lineup.

Deandre Ayton had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Austin Reaves scored 19 for Los Angeles, which blew the game open by scoring 45 in the third to go up 110-83. It was the 100th victory for coach JJ Redick.

The Lakers carried a 65-53 advantage into the half, fueled by 20 points and seven assists from Doncic and 11 points and six rebounds from Ayton. Allen had 18 points on 9-of-11 field-goal attempts, but Mitchell only scored two for the Cavaliers.

Doncic wasted no time getting back in the flow, taking 10 shots and scoring 14 points while playing the entire first. Cleveland held a 34-32 lead behind nine points from Harden and eight points and three rebounds by Allen.

Los Angeles guard Marcus Smart (right ankle bruise) missed his fourth game in a row, while the Cavaliers were without swingman Sam Merrill (left hamstring soreness). Cleveland forwards Jaylon Tyson (left great toe bruise) and Dean Wade (right ankle sprain) did not travel with the team on its three-game trip.

Trail Blazers Beat Los Angeles Clippers

Jrue Holiday scored 30 points and Deni Avdija recorded 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Portland Trail Blazers scored a crucial 114-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in Inglewood, Calif.

Portland (39-38) pulled within a half-game of Los Angeles (39-37) for eighth place in the Western Conference, a spot that would require just one play-in win instead of two to reach the playoffs. The Blazers turned in an inspired performance, taking the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquishing it.

Avdija’s five consecutive points, then a pair of assists to Toumani Camara and Kris Murray, ignited a 16-2 run midway through the second quarter.

The surge gave Portland a double-digit-point cushion that reached as many as 19 points. Los Angeles never got closer than eight points after halftime.

A 48-30 advantage on the boards helped the Blazers deny Los Angeles any rally opportunity. Portland attacked the offensive glass especially effectively, snaring 18 that led to 32 second-chance points.

Camara and Murray each snared four of their seven total rebounds on the offensive glass. Avdija, Scoot Henderson and Donovan Clingan all pulled down two offensive boards.

Clingan also delivered one of the highlight-reel moments of the night, scoring half of his four points on a third-quarter fastbreak dunk set on a lob pass from Holiday.

Camara added 17 points and Henderson finished with 15 as Portland took the first of two late-season matchups between the teams.

Los Angeles came into the night on a five-game winning streak, but committing 14 turnovers and getting dominated on the glass contributed to end of the Clippers’ hot run. So too did an unusual off scoring night from bench spark plug Bennedict Mathurin, who finished with just four points on 2-of-7 success from the floor.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 23 points and eight rebounds. Darius Garland added 20 points, Brook Lopez put up 18, John Collins had 17 and Jordan Miller contributed 16.

Charlotte Hornets Beat Brooklyn Nets

Brandon Miller scored 25 points in three quarters as the Charlotte Hornets seized control early and rolled to a 117-86 rout of the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in New York.

The Hornets (40-36) improved to 29-13 in the past 42 games and avoided a third straight loss by bouncing back nicely from their 15-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Charlotte has the same record as the Miami Heat but would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in a battle for Eastern Conference play-in seeding.

After being held to 13 points against the Celtics, Miller scored 16 in the first quarter when the Hornets produced a 15-0 run and held a 35-18 lead. Miller made his first five shots, finished 7-for-13 overall, hit four 3-pointers and made all seven of his free-throw attempts.

Miles Bridges added 19 while also playing three quarters as the Hornets led for the final 45:44 and went up by as many as 35 points.

LaMelo Ball also played three quarters and collected 14, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Moussa Diabate and rookie Kon Knueppel were the only Charlotte starters to see minutes in the fourth. Diabate contributed 10 points and 12 boards while Knueppel finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Reserves Coby White chipped in 16 while Grant Williams finished with 10 as Charlotte posted its sixth game by at least 30 points this season.

The Hornets shot 47.1%, hit 12-of-39 3-point tries and commanded the glass by a 47-30 margin.

The Nets (18-58) lost for the 11th time in 12 games and fell to 3-21 in their past 24. Brooklyn is a half-game ahead of the Washington Wizards (17-58) and Indiana Pacers (17-58) in the race for the NBA’s worst record and best draft lottery odds.

Brooklyn shot 38.4%, misfired on 28-of-35 3s, committed 16 turnovers and lost by at least 30 for the eighth time this season.

Josh Minott led the Nets with 14 points. Rookie Chaney Johnson added 11 while first-year guards Drake Powell and Nolan Traore along with Ziaire Williams finished with 10 apiece.

After briefly letting the lead slip to eight, Charlotte held a 58-45 lead by halftime, pulled ahead further in the third and held an 89-63 advantage into the fourth.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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