Jazz and Knicks also victorious in three-game Thursday slate; Sky Sports live action continues in the early hours of Saturday morning when the Philadelphia 76ers host the Boston Celtics from 12.30am on Sky Sports Arena
James scored a season-high 34 points to help keep the Los Angeles Lakers undefeated on the road this season with a 113-106 win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. Anthony Davis had 18 points and nine rebounds, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made a season-high seven three-pointers on 10 attempts in a 23-point night and Montrezl Harrell added 12 points off the bench for the Lakers who shot 19 of 37 (51.4 per cent) from 3-point distance.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 12 rebounds but committed a career-high nine turnovers. Jrue Holiday added 22 points and seven assists and Khris Middleton scored 20 for Milwaukee, who suffered a second straight defeat. The Lakers led 86-81 after three quarters, and they increased the gap to 96-85 on a Markieff Morris three-pointer with 8:42 to go.
However, the Bucks pulled back within two with 3:05 left on a Middleton layup. Alex Caruso sank a three-pointer to move Los Angeles ahead 108-101 with 1:42 remaining After an Antetokounmpo layup, James hit a deep three-pointer to beat the shot clock and move the Lakers ahead 111-103 with 1:04 remaining, and Milwaukee was out of comebacks.
The Bucks led by as many as seven in the first quarter before taking a 33-29 lead into the second quarter, but the Lakers gradually bent the game to their will. Caldwell-Pope and James made three-pointers to start the second half and give the Lakers their first double-digit lead at 69-57.
Caldwell-Pope, who came into the game third in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 53.7 per cent, hit a 35-footer at the buzzer to cap an 11-2 run to close the first half and give the Lakers a 63-57 lead at the break.
New Orleans Pelicans 118-129 Utah Jazz
Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz past the New Orleans Pelicans 129-118 in Salt Lake City for their seventh consecutive victory. Mitchell made 11 of 19 field-goal attempts and drained 6 of 8 from three-point range showing form reminiscent to his explosive first-round playoff series last year, when he averaged 36.3 points vs. the Denver Nuggets.
With his fifth three-pointer of the night, the All-Star guard became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 600 treys, getting there in 240 games.
Mike Conley continued his strong start with 20 points and six assists. Rudy Gobert contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, reserve Jordan Clarkson added 19 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic threw in 16 points for a Jazz team that shot 50 per cent from the floor.
Zion Williamson had 27 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the seventh time in eight outings. Brandon Ingram scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half. The Pelicans came out sizzling from beyond the arc, draining eight 3-pointers in the first quarter after only making six total on Tuesday in a 118-102 loss at Utah.
The 43-31 lead marked the most points New Orleans had scored in any quarter all season and Jaxson Hayes pushed New Orleans’ lead to 50-34 with a layup early in the second. That, however, was the beginning of the end for the Pelicans. Georges Niang sparked an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer, and the Jazz took a 70-69 lead into the break with another 8-0 burst.
Similar to the Jazz’s win two nights earlier, Utah seized control with a strong third quarter, Mitchell boosting the Jazz with 10 points in a 19-2 surge. The Pelicans finished the game without their head coach. Stan Van Gundy was ejected late in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul for arguing with referees.
New York Knicks 119-104 Golden State Warriors
R.J. Barrett recorded a career-best with 28 points and the New York Knicks used a 40-point first quarter to build a lead they relinquished only momentarily in a 119-104 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
All five Knicks starters scored in double figures, including Mitchell Robinson with 18 points and Julius Randle with 16 points, as New York opened a four-game Western swing with an impressive win.
Stephen Curry had a game-high 30 points, but shot just 5-for-14 on three-pointers, for the Warriors, who were coming off back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio over the previous three days. Reggie Bullock hit four three-pointers for New York, including three in the first five minutes as the Knicks were opening the game on an 18-8 run.
Seeking a third straight win, the visitors went up by as many as 11 in the first period and were caught just once the rest of the night, that coming at 55-all after a pair of Curry free throws with 2:01 remaining in the half. But Elfrid Payton contributed a three-pointer to an 8-2, half-closing run that re-established a six-point advantage, and the Warriors fought an unsuccessful uphill battle the rest of the night.
Barrett’s 28 points were one more than he scored on two occasions as a rookie last season, he shot 10-for-17 overall and 2-for-3 on three-pointers. Payton finished with 15 points, Bullock had 12 points, all on three-pointers, and Alec Burks chipped in with 11 for New York, which logged its second-largest point total of the season
Andrew Wiggins had 17 points to go with a team-high nine rebounds, while James Wiseman totalled 15 points and Eric Paschall 12 for the Warriors, who lost Draymond Green to a two-technical ejection in the second quarter.
