Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 125-110 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
The win was the Lakers' eighth consecutive.
The Lakers led by as many as 32 points in the second half but the Thunder cut the lead to just 11 with less than three minutes remaining before Kuzma hit back-to-back shots to put the game firmly in control once again.
Kuzma was 4 of 6 from behind the 3-point line.
For the second consecutive night, the Lakers put together a monster first quarter.
In Friday night's win in Dallas, Los Angeles scored 45 points in the opening frame without Anthony Davis.
In Oklahoma City, the Lakers scored 41 points in the first 12 minutes without its two biggest stars.
Davis missed his second consecutive game with a contusion of his gluteus maximus.
LeBron James was held out with flu-like symptoms.
James had been listed on the injury report due to illness prior to Friday's win in Dallas, where he finished with 35 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and seven assists.
But James couldn't battle through it Saturday on the second of a back-to-back.
"His chest was burning all throughout the game," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before Saturday's game. "We had to get him out early in the first quarter. I was using timeouts to get him rest, but most of my timeouts last night were centered around helping him fight through the chest cold."
Los Angeles was without a third starter, as Danny Green missed with right hip soreness.
The Lakers jumped out to the big lead, thanks in part to hot 3-point shooting. Los Angeles shot 76.9 percent from behind the arc in the first half. The Thunder were just 2 of 13 from long distance before halftime.
Rajon Rondo added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers.
Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points each to lead the Thunder, who lost for just the second time in nine games.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LeBron James had 35 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists to lead the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to their seventh straight win, a 129-114 decision against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Kyle Kuzma started in place of Anthony Davis and scored a season-high 26 points for the Lakers.
Davis, the leading scorer (27.1 points per game) and rebounder (9.4 boards per game) for the Lakers, sat out after taking a hard fall against the visiting New York Knicks on Tuesday night and sustaining a contusion to his gluteus maximus.
Dallas forward Luka Doncic, who came in third in the NBA in both scoring (29.6 ppg) and assists (9.0 per game), got off to a slow start before finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. However, he committed a game-high six turnovers.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 22 points for the Mavericks, who have dropped five of seven, and Seth Curry scored 16 off the bench.
The Mavericks cut a 21-point deficit to 10 during the third quarter, but the Lakers ultimately took a 99-86 lead into the fourth.
Los Angeles then scored the first seven points of the final quarter to move ahead by 20 points.
The Lakers scored 45 points in the opening quarter, their highest-scoring quarter of the season, and took an 18-point lead into the second.
Los Angeles used a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead for good at 24-9 with 5:29 left in the first quarter. They shot 17 of 28 (60.7 percent) in the opening quarter, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, while the Mavericks shot 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) and 2 of 11.
Los Angeles continued to add to its lead early in the second quarter, moving ahead by as many as 22 points with 9:13 left.
Dallas made another push to cut the deficit to 62-50 with 4:46 remaining in the half, but the Lakers produced a second straight strong finish to a quarter and took a 79-58 lead into the break. It was also the Lakers' top-scoring half of the season.
The Mavericks played their sixth straight game without 7-foot-3 forward Kristaps Porzingis (right knee soreness), who is second on the team in scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg) and leads in blocks (2.1 per game).
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LeBron James scored 21 points, matched his season best of 16 assists and also collected seven rebounds while playing through a groin injury to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 128-120 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Kyle Kuzma scored a team-high 24 points and Anthony Davis added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists as Los Angeles halted a season-worst, four-game losing streak. Rajon Rondo tallied 15 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 and Dwight Howard had 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Damian Lillard recorded 31 points and nine assists for the Trail Blazers, who lost their third straight game. Hassan Whiteside recorded 19 points and 16 rebounds, CJ McCollum scored 18 points, Anfernee Simons added 14, Carmelo Anthony had 13 and Anthony Tolliver tallied 12.
The Lakers have won four of the past five meetings with Portland after losing the previous 16.
Los Angeles shot 51.6 percent from the field, including 11 of 32 from 3-point range. The Trail Blazers shot 47.7 percent and were 15 of 35 from behind the arc.
The Lakers led, 85-75, after Davis' basket with 7:45 left in the third quarter before the Trail Blazers scored the next 11 points to take the lead.
Los Angeles later went on a quarter-ending 13-4 run to take a 103-95 lead into the final stanza.
Caldwell-Pope buried a 3-pointer from the left corner on the fast break to give the Lakers a 118-107 advantage with 3:55 remaining.
Caldwell-Pope knocked down another 3-pointer from the left corner 61 seconds later to make it 123-112.
James recorded assist No. 16 in stellar fashion with an alley-oop to Davis, who slammed the ball home to make it 127-115 with 1:37 left to put the game away.
Kuzma scored 20 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting to help the Lakers take a 71-64 lead. Lillard had 16 points for Portland.
James didn't look too bothered by his groin injury when he started strong with 10 points to help Los Angeles lead, 34-32, after the opening quarter.
The Lakers led, 62-49, after two free throws from Davis with 5:16 remaining in the second quarter before the Trail Blazers cut the margin to seven heading into the break.
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Anthony Davis scored 41 points in his return to New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers won their ninth straight game, beating the Pelicans 114-110 on Wednesday night.
Davis was roundly booed whenever he touched the basketball in the city where he played his first seven seasons before demanding a trade from New Orleans, which sent him to the Lakers in July.
LeBron James added 29 points and 11 assists as the Lakers improved their league-leading record to 16-2. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points.
Jrue Holiday had 12 assists and 29 points, but just four in the second half, as the Pelicans squandered a 16-point third-quarter lead. Brandon Ingram, one of three players L.A. traded along with a group of draft choices for Davis, had 23 points and 10 rebounds, JJ Redick scored 18 and Kenrich Williams had 11.
Kuzma's 3-pointer gave Los Angeles a 111-109 lead with 1:06 remaining. Josh Hart made one of two free throws for the Pelicans before stealing the ball from James.
Redick missed a jumper and Davis rebounded with six seconds left. He made one of two free throws, then stole Holiday's inbound pass with five seconds left and made two more free throws to complete the scoring.
Davis scored 27 points in the first half, but the Pelicans held a 64-54 halftime lead as Holiday scored 25.
New Orleans scored the first six points of the third quarter, but a dunk, steal and layup by Davis helped the Lakers get within eight. E'Twaun Moore's jumper gave New Orleans an 89-79 lead at the end of the period.
Los Angeles scored the first nine points of the fourth, pulling within a point on Kuzma's 3-pointer.
After Hart's two free throws ended the Pelicans scoring drought, Kuzma tied the score with another 3-pointer.
New Orleans took a four-point lead, but Davis made a dunk on a James pass and James added seven straight points for a 100-95 lead with 5:25 remaining.
Redick scored eight points in the fourth quarter as New Orleans took a one-point lead with two minutes left.
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LeBron James had 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in three quarters, and the Los Angeles Lakers coasted to a 120-94 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles center JaVale McGee finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, three blocks and three steals against his former team.
Dwight Howard added 15 points and eight boards for the Lakers, who won for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points while starting for Los Angeles in place of Anthony Davis, who was rested since he is dealing with shoulder and rib soreness.
D'Angelo Russell scored 21 points for Golden State, which has lost five in a row. Russell had scored at least 30 points in each of his previous four contests. Rookie Eric Paschall had 15 points for the Warriors.
Los Angeles got off to a sizzling start, using a 12-0 run for a 29-15 lead after a 3-pointer by Alex Caruso with 4:11 left in the first quarter.
The Lakers led 38-26 at the end of the quarter, having hit 69.6 percent of their shots from the floor, including 5 of 8 3-point attempts. James scored 11 points in the first.
The Warriors managed 50 percent shooting in the quarter but misfired on 5 of 6 3-point tries. Overall on the night, Los Angeles hit 53.9 percent of its field-goal attempts to 40.4 percent for Golden State.
The Lakers dominated the glass, compiling a 51-33 rebounding edge. They also topped 30 assists for the fourth consecutive game, finishing with 31 compared to 29 for the Warriors.
After trailing by double digits for much of the first half, the Warriors launched a brief rally in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to seven before the Lakers seized a 67-55 edge at the break.
In the third, the Lakers blew the game open.
Lakers reserve guard Rajon Rondo, who made his season debut Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns after missing nine games with a strained right calf, didn't play since the club did not want him to appear in back-to-back contests yet.
Los Angeles guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left the game in the second half due to a left ankle injury.
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Kyle Kuzma had 23 points off the bench and hit a pair of key 3-pointers down the stretch, and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away from the host Phoenix Suns for a 123-115 victory on Tuesday.
Anthony Davis had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles, and LeBron James added 19 points and 11 assists.
James made a 3-pointer and Kuzma sank two treys in a row in a 90-second stretch as the Lakers closed on a 12-2 run to win for the eighth time in nine games. The Suns, who have lost two of three, did not have a field goal in the final 3:28.
Dwight Howard had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers. Danny Green scored 14 points, and Rajon Rondo had five points and seven assists in 14 minutes in his return after missing the first nine games of the season due to a right calf strain.
Ricky Rubio and 21 points and 10 assists, Devin Booker 21 points and Aron Baynes 20 points for Phoenix. Baynes tied a career high with four 3-pointers.
The Suns, who sank 16 of 38 3-point attempts, have made at least 11 3-pointers in a franchise-record eight consecutive games. Dario Saric had four threes, and Rubio and Cam Johnson had three apiece.
The Lakers held a 109-102 lead after a Davis 3-pointer with 6:12 remaining before the Suns went on an 8-0 run, Baynes capping the sequence with two free throws. However, James and Kuzma rescued Los Angeles.
The Lakers outshot the Suns from the floor 53.7 percent to 47.3 percent.
The Suns made five threes in the first 10 minutes and took a 29-20 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. Rubio had two threes in the run.
Davis, who had 14 points in the first half, scored six points in the final four minutes of the second quarter. His driving dunk with about a minute left pushed the Lakers to their largest lead of the half, 59-55.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 14-footer gave the Lakers a 95-92 lead after three quarters.
--Field Level Media
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LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma will be sidelined indefinitely while recovering from a left foot injury, the NBA club announced Friday.
Kuzma, who averaged 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game last season for the Lakers, was hurt while he was the with the United States team in the run-up to the World Championships in China.
Kuzma was the last player dropped from the squad in August due to the injury.
The 24-year-old American is still rehabilitating and has not been cleared for full practice or game participation as the Lakers prepare to open training camp on Saturday.
Doctors are scheduled to give Kuzma an MRI exam when the Lakers return from playing pre-season games next month in China.
The Lakers will face the Brooklyn Nets on October 10 in Shanghai and October 12 in Shenzhen before playing the Los Angeles Clippers on October 22, the opening night of the 2019-20 NBA season.
Teenage rookie guard Talen Horton-Tucker will also miss the first three weeks of Lakers training camp with a stress reaction in his right foot. His status, like that of Kuzma, will be updated once the Lakers return from China.
Another American rookie, forward Jordan Caroline underwent surgery on the fifth metatarsal bone of his left foot on September 6 and will be out 10 to 12 weeks.
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Kyle Kuzma had 23 points and eight rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the visiting Phoenix Suns 120-96 on Sunday.
LeBron James had 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists; Brandon Ingram had 15 points; and Michael Beasley scored a season-high 14 off the bench for the Lakers, who have won three in a row and climbed a season-high five games above .500.
JaVale McGee also scored 14 for Los Angeles.
Richaun Holmes scored a season-high 15 points off the bench, Trevor Ariza and Josh Jackson scored 13 apiece, and Deandre Ayton finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost five in a row.
Phoenix leading scorer Devin Booker, who came in 12th in the league in scoring (24.5 ppg), left late in the first half after straining his hamstring while chasing down a loose ball. Booker missed three games at the end of October with a hamstring injury and sat out a 99-85 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic on Friday night because of a sore foot.
The Lakers turned the game around by outscoring the Suns 40-15 in the second quarter.
Phoenix got off to a strong start with Booker on the floor, surging to a 25-8 lead with 5:27 left in the first quarter.
The Suns still maintained a 10-point advantage entering the second quarter, but Los Angeles scored the first 10 points and tied the score at 31-31 on a 3-pointer by Ingram 2:15 into the period. The Lakers used another 9-0 run later in the quarter to take the lead for good, 48-40, with 3:54 left in the first half.
Mikal Bridges ended that run with a 3-pointer, but Los Angeles would score the next five points to take its first double-digit lead at 53-43. During that run, Booker left with the hamstring injury.
The Lakers closed the first half by scoring the final eight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 0.7 seconds left, giving them their biggest lead at 61-46.
Phoenix could only pull as close as nine with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter. Kuzma scored five points in an 8-0 surge late in the quarter to move Los Angeles ahead 92-69.
--Field Level Media
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The Los Angeles Lakers have a .500 record for the first time this season after a 101-86 win against the host Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
LeBron James scored 25 points for Los Angeles, which has won four of five and six of nine. The Lakers have another winnable game Sunday against the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Brandon Ingram had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma scored 11 apiece for the Lakers. Tyson Chandler had a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench in his second game since joining the Lakers.
De'Aaron Fox scored 21 points to lead Sacramento. Marvin Bagley III had 13 points off the bench and Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who had won six of eight coming in.
Kuzma made a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half to extend the lead to 53-44. Los Angeles missed its next seven shots, including three open 3-point attempts on one possession, which would have extended the lead back to double digits.
At the same time, the Kings went on a 7-0 run to get within 53-51 and they pulled as close as one point on two occasions before Lakers backup point guard Rajon Rondo capped a 10-0 run by hitting a wide-open 3-pointer for a 67-56 lead with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
The Lakers took a 76-65 lead into the fourth and Lance Stephenson sank a 3-pointer off a loose ball on the first possession, extending the lead back to 14. They soon went up by 20 on Josh Hart's 3 with 8:01 left and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The Lakers led by 16 midway through the second quarter before taking a 50-44 lead into the half.
James led the way with 15 points in the first half for the Lakers.
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LeBron James scored 28 points and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers withstood a furious rally by the Portland Trail Blazers to win 114-110 Saturday night.
James passed out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds for the Lakers, who ended a 16-game losing streak against Portland, beating the Blazers for the first time since 2014. Rajon Rondo came off the bench to contribute 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored 30 points for the Blazers, who nearly came back from a 20-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.
McCollum and Lillard combined for 23 points to give Portland a 57-56 lead at the half, despite the Blazers making only 5 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. James had 13 points for the Lakers.
The Lakers outscored Portland 32-16 in the third quarter to take an 88-73 advantage into the final period. Through three quarters, the Blazers were 6 for 28 on 3-point attempts.
L.A. increased its lead to 95-75 early in the fourth quarter but Portland closed the gap to 99-85 with 6:01 left. Jusuf Nurkic made a free throw to get the Blazers to within 101-90 with 4:53 remaining. After James hit a pair of free throws, Lillard converted consecutive layups and a free throw to draw Portland within 103-95 with 4:01 to play.
Nurkic scored on a layup to cut the Lakers' edge to 103-97 with 3:35 to go. The Lakers' Josh Hart and McCollum traded driving layups, and L.A. was ahead 105-99 with 2:36 remaining. James then dunked to up the Lakers' advantage to 107-99 with 2:18 to play.
McCollum's layup got Portland to within 107-101 with two minutes to go. James and McCollum traded baskets, and the Lakers led 109-103 with 1:30 left.
Nurkic made 1 of 2 free throws, but the Lakers' Javale McGee scored on a layup to make it 101-94 with 28 seconds left. McCollum converted a layup to slice the difference to 111-106 with 25.4 seconds to go. Hart split a pair of foul shots, but Meyers Leonard scored on a dunk to get the Blazers to within 112-108 with 10.6 seconds on the clock.
James made a pair of free throw for a 114-108 Lakers lead with 9.8 seconds left. McCollum's two free throws with 2.5 ticks left wrapped up the scoring.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Rookie Kyle Kuzma scored 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 100-93, on Saturday.
Kuzma helped the Lakers halt a four-game losing streak by posting his 21st game with at least 20 points, including his third straight. He shot 5-of-6 in the final 12 minutes and 9-of-21 overall while adding 10 rebounds.
Julius Randle added 20 points and 11 rebounds for his 23rd double-double as the Lakers won despite shooting 40.7 percent. Los Angeles outscored Memphis 48-36 in the second half after trailing by 17 late in the first quarter.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed 18 points for the Lakers while rookie Lonzo Ball fell two rebounds shy of his second career triple-double with 12, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Andrew Harrison had 20 points and Marc Gasol scored 18 for the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth straight game and for the 23rd time in 24 games. JaMychal Green tied a season high with 17 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out as the Grizzlies blew a double-digit lead for the 14th time this season.
Coming off a 61-point loss in Charlotte on Thursday, Memphis shot 57.5 percent in the first half and took a 57-52 lead by halftime. The Grizzlies took a 17-point late in the first and led by 12 early in the second before the Lakers began chipping away.
Los Angeles cut the deficit to 57-52 on a 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope with 39 seconds remaining. The Lakers tied the game at 59-59 on a jumper by Caldwell-Pope early in the third, but Memphis scored the next nine points, forcing a timeout after a jumper by Gasol with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third.
Los Angeles came back again and tied the game on a dunk by Ball with 47 seconds remaining and the game was deadlocked at 71 going into the fourth. The Lakers then used an 11-2 run to take an 84-79 lead with about 6 1/2 minutes left on consecutive baskets by Kuzma.
After Kuzma converted a 3-point play for an 88-84 lead with 3:55 left, consecutive hoops by Randle gave Los Angeles a 92-89 edge with 1:57 remaining.
Kuzma then finished it off by hitting a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left for a 96-89 lead.
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Julius Randle recorded 23 points and 15 rebounds and Jordan Clarkson scored five of his 19 points in overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers stretched their season-best winning streak to four games with a 107-101 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
Kyle Kuzma scored 18 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tallied 17 for the Lakers. Kuzma also collected 10 rebounds as Los Angeles held a 59-39 edge on the boards.
Dennis Smith Jr. scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half for Dallas. Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews added 17 points apiece and Dwight Powell scored 13 on 6-of-7 shooting for the Mavericks, who had a modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Clarkson drained a 3-pointer for the first points of overtime. He later added a jumper to make it 104-99 with two minutes left, and Dallas managed only two free throws the rest of the way.
Los Angeles used a strong fourth-quarter push to force overtime. The Lakers posted a 7-0 run to hold a 92-87 edge with 1:25 remaining in regulation as Caldwell-Pope began the spurt with a go-ahead 3-pointer and Clarkson and Randle added baskets to make it 92-87.
Consecutive baskets by Barnes and Smith pushed Dallas within 94-93 with 14 seconds left. After Caldwell-Pope split two free throws, Barnes' hoop knotted the score at 95 with 5.9 seconds remaining, and Los Angeles' Lonzo Ball missed a jumper just prior to the buzzer.
Lakers forward Brandon Ingram exited in the second quarter due to a sprained left ankle.
Dallas began a 10-0 run in the final minute of the third quarter and took an 80-70 lead on Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 9:32 to play. The Lakers answered with a 15-3 burst and took the lead on a Kuzma shot with 4:40 remaining before a free throw by Randle made it 85-83 with 3:59 to play.
Randle scored 10 first-quarter points as the Lakers jumped out to a 31-20 lead.
Los Angeles led by six with just over five minutes left in the second quarter before the Mavericks erupted with 15 straight points. Smith scored seven points during the surge and Ferrell capped it with a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 52-43 lead with 2:13 to play.
The Mavericks took a 52-46 lead into the break.
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