RESULTS
Miami 117, Philadelphia 116 (OT)
Washington 100, New York 107
LA Clippers 107, Utah 120
Milwaukee 111, Orlando 100
San Antonio 136, Detroit 109
Portland 120, LA Lakers 128
Chicago 116, Atlanta 81
Houston 108, Brooklyn 98
Minnesota 88, Cleveland 94
Boston 97, Toronto 113
Sacramento 110, Phoenix 112
New Orleans 120, Indiana 98
Golden State 121, Dallas 141
Denver 119, Memphis 110
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – LeBron James scored a team high 21 points and equaled his season best of 16 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 128-120 win over Portland on Saturday.
”We just wanted to play well,” James said. ”We just try to play the right way, sharing the ball on offense. Win, lose, or draw we did that tonight.”
James was a late addition to the lineup because of a groin injury that has hampered his play of late. James said treatment for the injury includes plenty of ice packs.
”I am doing all right. I am playing on it. I let the ice take care of it’s business,” he said.
Kyle Kuzma scored a team-high 24 points and Anthony Davis added 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the win.
Coach Frank Vogel said the Lakers needed to clean up the mistakes that caused them to suffer their longest losing streak of the season.
”We got a win and we are all happy about it,” he said. ”We made some adjustments to things that were hurting us the last couple of games.”
Damian Lillard recorded 31 points and nine assists for the Trail Blazers, who lost their third straight game.
Elsewhere, Kyle Lowry scored 30 points as the Toronto Raptors avenged a Christmas Day loss to Boston with a 113-97 rematch victory over the Celtics.
Serge Ibaka finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors snapped a two-game losing skid which included a 118-102 loss to Boston on Wednesday, as the two Eastern Conference contenders were playing for the second time in less than 72 hours.
Patrick McCaw had 18 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, while a resurgent Fred VanVleet also scored 18 points in the win for the defending NBA champs. Lowry also had seven assists in front of the crowd of 19,100 at the Boston Garden arena.
