Eastern Conference
Brooklyn 130, Boston 108
(Brooklyn leads series 2-0)
Western Conference
LA Lakers 109, Phoenix 102
(Series tied 1-1)
Dallas 127, LA Clippers 121
(Dallas leads 2-0)
LOS ANGELES (AFP) ‒ Anthony Davis and LeBron James delivered down the stretch on Tuesday as the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers bounced back to beat the Phoenix Suns, 109-102, and knot their playoff series at one game apiece.
Davis had said he blamed himself after scoring just 13 points in the Lakers’ 99-90 defeat in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
He wasn’t about to let it happen again.
Davis scored 34 points with 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. “I wanted to make sure I made a statement in this game, come out with more energy, more effort on both ends of the floor,” he said.
LeBron James added 23 points, pulling down four rebounds and handing out nine assists as the Lakers gained the split of two games in Phoenix.
The star duo scored 16 of the Lakers’ final 18 points and Los Angeles turned back a late charge from a Suns team again largely deprived of veteran point guard Chris Paul — who was still clearly feeling the effects of a right shoulder injury suffered in game one and exited early.
James’s basket with 2:55 to play put the Lakers up 95-92 and Davis followed with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 100-92 as the Suns’ challenge dimmed.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets seized 2-0 series leads.
Star Mavs guard Luka Doncic scored 39 points as Dallas put themselves in a commanding position with their second straight victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles, 127-121.
In Brooklyn, the Nets ran roughshod over the Boston Celtics, leading by as many as 33 points in a 130-108 victory that put them 2-0 up.
The Mavericks made 18 three-pointers and connected on 58.5 percent of their shots from the field as they withstood a 41-point performance from Clippers star Kawhi Leonard supplemented by 28 from Paul George.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 28 points and Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 20 for the Mavs, who host game three on Friday.
Kevin Durant headed another strong showing for the Nets’ “big three” and Joe Harris excelled from three-point range to power the Nets to an early lead they had no trouble maintaining.
Brooklyn seized control in a first quarter in which they out-scored the Celtics 40-26.
They led 71-47 at halftime with Harris providing plenty of fireworks.
The forward connected on six of eight shots from three-point range in the first half, when his 22 points were already a career playoff high.
He added one more three-pointer in the second half to tie the franchise playoff record.
Durant led the Nets with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.
Harris finished with 25 points, James Harden added 20 and Kyrie Irving 15.
The listless Celtics, meanwhile, never threatened.
Marcus Smart recovered from a slow start to lead the Celtics in scoring with 19 points.
