LeBron James on Thursday had a triple-double of 27 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to pull away in the second half for a 114-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
James recorded his second triple-double of the season and the 96th of his career as the Lakers opened their five-game homestand with an impressive come-from-behind win.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points and Talen Horton-Tucker had 17 for the defending NBA champions, who improved to 17-6 for the season.
Photo: AFP
Anthony Davis said the Lakers had to make some adjustments at halftime, especially with their defense.
“We were not getting any stops. We knew we could score at will, but we needed to get some stops. Guys talked in locker room and we were able to come out in that third quarter and hold them to 13 points,” Davis said.
With his third basket in the third quarter, James surpassed Wilt Chamberlain (12,681) for No. 3 on the career three-pointers list.
Canadian Jamal Murray scored 20 points and Monte Morris added 16 for the Nuggets, who suffered their second loss in eight games.
Nikola Jokic, who was coming off a 47-point performance in his previous game, struggled to just 13 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the first meeting of the teams since the Lakers captured the Western Conference Finals 4-1 over the Nuggets last season.
The Nuggets looked out of sorts coming off a surprise four-day break after Monday’s contest at home against the Detroit Pistons was postponed because Detroit did not have the required eight players available due to COVID-19.
After the game, James criticized the NBA’s plan to stage an All-Star Game during the pandemic, describing it as “a slap in the face” for the players.
“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” James said. “I am not happy about it. If I am selected, I will be there physically, but not mentally.”
This season’s All-Star Game had been canceled, but on Thursday the NBA told its teams that it expects to finalize plans in the coming week to have an All-Star Game in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 7.
“We came off a short off-season of 71 days and then coming into season we were told we were not going to have an All-Star Game so we would have a nice little break. Then they throw an All-Star Game on us like this,” James said. “It is pretty much a slap in the face. We are still dealing with [the] pandemic and we are going to bring the whole league into a city that is open.”
In Philadelphia, Carmelo Anthony delivered a throwback performance by scoring 22 points as the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers stunned the Philadelphia 76ers 121-105.
The depleted Blazers won despite an array of injuries that got worse earlier in the day with the announcement that Damian Lillard was ruled out of the contest with an abdominal strain.
Portland only had nine players available, but the Trail Blazers are deep in talent and it showed against the Sixers as Gary Trent scored 24 points, while Enes Kanter finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds in the win at the Wells Fargo Center.
“On both ends of the floor, the other guys did an amazing job today,” Kanter said.
Anthony shot eight of 14, dished out five assists and drained three of four three-pointers.
Despite the revolving door on the infirmary, the Blazers have managed to win 12 of their first 20 games, including Thursday’s over the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
“It was just a different energy with the team,” Portland’s C.J. Elleby said.
Elsewhere, Kelly Oubre exploded for a career-high 40 points as the Golden State Warriors overpowered the Dallas Mavericks 147-116 in the opener of a two-game set.
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score 23 points as the Utah Jazz hammered the short-handed Atlanta Hawks 112-91 for their 13th win in 14 games, while the Houston Rockets mauled the Memphis Grizzlies 115-103.
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