Lakers top Hornets for 4th straight win

By Canadian Press on January 27, 2025.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Anthony Davis had 42 points and 23 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers used a huge first quarter from the All-Star center to build a 23-point lead before beating the Charlotte Hornets 112-107 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

LeBron James had 22 points and Austin Reaves chipped in 17 for the Lakers, who never trailed.

Miles Bridges had 26 points for the Hornets, who lost LaMelo Ball in the second quarter to a left ankle injury after he stepped on Jarred Vanderbilt’s foot as he backpedaled down the court after draining a 3-point jumper off one foot.

Davis scored 21 points in the first quarter on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds as the Lakers bolted to a 39-19 lead.

CAVALIERS 110, PISTONS 91

CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 22 points, Donovan Mitchell added 21 and Cleveland snapped a season-high, three-game losing streak with a win over Detroit.

Cleveland, which has led the Eastern Conference from the start, ended its mini slump with an 11th straight win over Detroit. The Cavs are 22-3 at home.

They also improved to 2-0 against former coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who led Cleveland’s rebuild and guided the Cavs into the playoffs the past two seasons. However, Bickerstaff was fired following last year’s postseason exit before being hired by the Pistons.

Jarrett Allen had 15 points and Evan Mobley 14 rebounds for Cleveland.

Cade Cunningham scored 22 points and Malik Beasley 19 for Detroit. Jalen Duren had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Pistons, who have 23 wins after going 14-68 last season.

ROCKETS 114, CELTICS 112

BOSTON (AP) — Amen Thompson hit a game-winning floater with 0.7 seconds left and finished with 33 points to lead Houston to a victory over Boston.

Dillon Brooks shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range and led Houston with 36 points. The Rockets won for the ninth time in 11 games.

Jaylen Brown had 28 points for the Celtics, and Jayson Tatum added 19 after a scoreless first half. Luke Kornet had 18 and Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 to go with eight rebounds.

Rockets leading scorer Jalen Green was held to 12 points.

KINGS 110, NETS 96

NEW YORK (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had 21 points, 22 rebounds and 10 assists in his seventh triple-double of the season, De’Aaron Fox scored 30 points and Sacramento beat Brooklyn.

DeMar DeRozan added 17 points and Malik Monk finished with 16 for the Kings, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Sacramento trailed by seven points at halftime and outscored the Nets 33-24 in the third quarter to take an 80-78 lead heading into the fourth.

The Kings then went on a 13-2 run, capped by Keegan Murray’s 3-pointer from the corner opposite the Nets bench, to make it 97-85 with 6:08 to play.

HEAT 125, MAGIC 119, 2OT

MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 30 points, Bam Adebayo finished with 26 and Miami Heat erased a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter before beating Orlando in double overtime.

Adebayo had 10 rebounds and nine assists, Herro had 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Kel’el Ware finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Miami — which played hours after Jimmy Butler was suspended yet again.

Miami improved to 10-10 without Butler this season. The Heat are 13-12 when he plays.

Franz Wagner had 29 points for Orlando, which got 17 apiece from Paolo Banchero and Tristan da Silva. The Magic were outscored 9-3 in the second overtime.

Orlando is 18-2 in games it leads by double figures in the fourth quarter this season. Both losses were to Miami.

KNICKS 143, GRIZZLIES 106

NEW YORK (AP) — Mikal Bridges had 28 points, six assists and five rebounds, and New York snapped Memphis’ six-game winning streak with a resounding win.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Jalen Brunson had 20 points and six assists for the Knicks, who scored 143 points for the second straight game and won their fourth straight. New York (31-16) won for the 16th time in its past 22 games.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 21 points for Memphis, and Desmond Bane chipped in 16. The Grizzlies fell for just the fourth time in 18 games against Eastern Conference opponents.

RAPTORS 113, PELICANS 104

TORONTO (AP) — Jakob Poeltl had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Scottie Barnes had 21 points and 11 boards, and Toronto beat New Orleans for their first four-game winning streak in almost two years.

RJ Barrett scored 17 points for Toronto and Chris Boucher had 14.

Toronto last won four straight from Feb. 12-25, 2023, a run that also included a home victory over the Pelicans.

Zion Williamson scored 31 points and CJ McCollum had 22 as the Pelicans dropped to 4-19 on the road.

Dejounte Murray scored 21 points and Trey Murphy III added 14 for New Orleans, which shot 6 of 28 from 3-point range.

BULLS 129, NUGGETS 121

CHICAGO (AP) — Nikola Vucevic had 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Chicago handed Denver their second straight loss with a victory.

Zach LaVine scored 21 points and Lonzo Ball had 18 for Chicago, which had lost seven of eight. Ayo Dosunmu added 17 points.

The Bulls went 24 for 53 from 3-point range and had seven players score in double figures.

Denver wasted another impressive performance by Nikola Jokic, who had 33 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his sixth triple-double in his last seven games. The three-time MVP has an NBA-best 21 triple-doubles this season.

Christian Braun scored 28 points for Denver. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. each had 18.

TIMBERWOLVES 130, WIZARDS 108

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 23 points and Julius Randle added 20 to help Minnesota hold off short-handed Atlanta.

DeAndre Hunter had a career-high 35 points and Keaton Wallace added 13 for the Hawks, who played without leading scorer and NBA assist leader Trae Young (hamstring) and starters Dyson Daniels (ankle) and Jalen Johnson (shoulder).

Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who had nine turnovers and just five field goals in the third quarter as Hunter and the Hawks closed the gap to six. Hunter missed a dunk on Gobert with 44 seconds left that would’ve cut the deficit to four.

The Associated Press