Luka Doncic on Monday scored 42 points, but could not prevent the Los Angeles Lakers stumbling to a third straight defeat with a 124-112 loss against the lowly Sacramento Kings.
LeBron James wore a special patch on his uniform to mark his historic 23rd season in the NBA and scored 22 points on a frustrating night for the Lakers, who made just eight three-pointers from 36 attempts.
Doncic and James were among only four Lakers players to make double figures, with Deandre Ayton finishing with 13 points and Jaxson Hayes adding 12 off the bench.
Photo: AFP
The Kings, one place off the bottom of the Western Conference with a 10-30 record, were led by 32 points from DeMar DeRozan, with Russell Westbrook finishing with 22 points against his former team.
“We literally couldn’t make a shot,” Lakers coach J.J. Redick said.
In other games, the Indiana Pacers bagged their third straight victory with an upset 98-96 win over the Boston Celtics in Indianapolis.
Pascal Siakam led the scoring with 21 points for the Pacers, last year’s NBA Finals runners-up who remain rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference with a 9-31 record.
Siakam scored what turned out to be the winning basket, banking in a floating jump shot with seven seconds remaining to give the Pacers a rare home victory.
Boston’s Derrick White missed a 32-foot three-point attempt with two seconds left on the clock as the Pacers held on for the win.
In Toronto, 39-year-old Kyle Lowry was given a rousing reception as the Philadelphia 76ers romped to a 115-102 win over the Raptors.
Lowry, a beloved figure in Toronto after helping the Raptors to their lone NBA title in 2019, was given a standing ovation in the fourth quarter as the crowd saluted what was likely his final appearance in Toronto before he retires.
Lowry made a fleeting appearance for Philadelphia, playing just under two minutes as the Sixers cruised to victory thanks to 33 points from Tyrese Maxey and a 27-point contribution from Joel Embiid.
Maxey led the tributes to Lowry afterward, revealing how the veteran had helped his career since arriving in Philadelphia in 2024.
“We talk at least five times a day. It started as soon as he got here. He just told me: ‘Listen, man. I’m here for you. Whatever you need me to do, whatever you need from me, I’m here for you,’” Maxey said. “He’s been that way every single day no matter what.”
The Utah Jazz scored an upset 123-112 defeat of the Cleveland Cavaliers on the back of 32 points from Keyonte George and 28 points from Lauri Markkanen, the Mavericks mastered the Nets 113-105 and the Clippers swatted aside the Hornets 117-109.
Additional reporting by staff writer
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Kite-surfing fabrics, car tires and shortened shoelaces helped Kenyan Sabastian Sawe and Adidas crack the two-hour marathon barrier. When Sawe on Sunday shattered one of athletics’ most elusive barriers in storming to victory at the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds, it did not come from just physiology and grit, but from design choices drawn from far beyond the course. Sawe debuted Adidas’ lightest-ever racing shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. “It starts with the mentality of the athlete, the coach, and the team behind the product, which is: What can we do better? What is the 1 percent
RSS