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Nuggets

The 2024 NBA Free Agency underway. Here's everything you need to know about the makings and the moves around the NBA.

2024 NBA Free Agency Tracker: All the signings and deals in the offseason

Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers and Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks will be among the league's best shooters competing in the 2024 Three-Point Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.
Haliburton, who&rsquo;s also an All-Star starter, will try to win in front of his home crowd in his first stint at the three-point competition. One of the league&rsquo;s premier shooters, Haliburton is shooting nearly 40% (39.8%) from three-point range this season.
Lillard, the reigning champion, aims to defend his title this year despite a down-shooting season. Coming over to the Bucks in the offseason, Lillard is only shooting 34.7% from three on 8 attempts per game.
Joining Haliburton and Lillard are the following: Cleveland Cavaliers&rsquo; Donovan Mitchell, New York Knicks&rsquo; Jalen Brunson, Lillard&rsquo;s Bucks teammate Malik Beasley, Utah Jazz&rsquo;s Lauri Markkanen and Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey. A final participant is expected to be named in the coming days.

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There will also be a separate three-point showdown between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu in the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/steph-curry-sabrina-ionescu-to-face-off-in-nba-vs-wnba-3point-contest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-ever NBA vs. WNBA Three-Point Challenge</a>.

Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard will be among the league's best shooters competing in the 2024 Three-Point Contest.

Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard to headline NBA Three-Point Contest

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

Damian Lillard has finally been traded, and he's heading to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Portland Trail Blazers sent Lillard to Milwaukee as part of a three-team trade with the Phoenix Suns, according to <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38505763/sources-blazers-trading-damian-lillard-bucks-3-team-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski</a>.&nbsp;
The Blazers will receive Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, Milwaukee's 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick and unprotected Milwaukee swap rights in 2028 and 2030. The Suns will receive Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.
Lillard and his camp made it clear that he wanted to be traded to the Miami Heat, but the Blazers weren't interested in Miami's offer. This trade still sends Lillard to a contender, and he gets to play with a fellow superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Lillard and Antetokounmpo have previously talked about wanting to team up. Last year, GQ asked Lillard which one player he'd want to team up with in pursuit of an NBA championship.
&ldquo;I would pick Giannis," Lillard <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWNskoGPrpc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a>. "Just the dominance, somebody that&rsquo;s going to get to the rim. He&rsquo;s a good playmaker, a good defender, disruptive. And the way he plays complements the way I play. I would bring something to the table that complements what he does and vice versa. Seamless [fit]."
A few months ago, Antetokounmpo was asked the same question and he also chose Lillard. Now, the pair will form one of the best one-two punches in the NBA.
Recently, Antetokounmpo had <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/will-giannis-antetokounmpo-sign-extension-with-bucks-i-dont-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made some comments about his future with the Bucks being up in the air</a> and how he wasn't content with simply winning one championship in Milwaukee. Perhaps he was trying to get the Bucks' front office to budge and make this blockbuster acquisition? Now, it certainly seems as if he'll remain in Milwaukee for the considerable future, especially since Lillard has three guaranteed years (plus a player option in 2026-27) remaining on his current contract with the Bucks.
Now, with Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Malik Beasley and Co., the Bucks have to be considered a favorite to win the Eastern Conference.
For Portland, this trade gives them another young cornerstone in Deandre Ayton to put alongside Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. They will reportedly try to flip Jrue Holiday (a favorite of NBA executives) for additional assets. Now, the franchise can move on from the Lillard saga and focus on their rebuild rather than having this situation drag into the season.
Last season, Lillard had arguably the best year of his career, averaging 32.2 points, 7.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 threes, while shooting 46.3% from the field, 37.1% from three-point range and 91.4% from the free-throw line. He is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection and a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

Damian Lillard has finally been traded, and he's heading to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bucks acquire Damian Lillard in shocking trade with Blazers, Suns

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Although the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; late-season transformation is one of this NBA season&rsquo;s best stories, LeBron James and his teammates finally appear to be running out of steam in the Western Conference finals.
They&rsquo;ve also finally run into an opponent capable of making sure this story doesn&rsquo;t have a completely happy ending.
After looking weary and mistake-prone in Denver during their first back-to-back losses in over two months, the Lakers face a must-win Game 3 Saturday.
Los Angeles has been on a prolonged roll ever since the trade deadline, going 27-12 while surging into the playoff picture, winning a play-in game and knocking out two higher-seeded opponents in six games. But that roll has finally been slowed by Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the respect-hungry Nuggets, whose superior late-game play was the reason they&rsquo;re up 2-0.
&ldquo;This is not the NCAA Tournament,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first team to four wins. We have an opportunity to go home and play great basketball and hold serve. Until a team beats you four times, you always have an opportunity to come out of it. So that&rsquo;s the confidence that we should have. I know it&rsquo;s going to be a tough hill to climb up, but we still have an opportunity to play the best basketball of the series in Game 3.&rdquo;
The Lakers insist they&rsquo;re not as tired as they looked for stretches of both games in Denver, when they settled for too many jumpers, ran the court less effectively and lost a fraction of their defensive intensity. James and Anthony Davis both say the fatigue of this relentless two-month sprint toward title contention isn&rsquo;t finally too much for a team that altered half of its roster just three months ago.
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not tired in the postseason...,&rdquo; James said after LA&rsquo;s 108-103 loss in Game 2. &ldquo;I mean, everybody&rsquo;s tired.&rdquo;
But James&rsquo; weariness appears to be evident in his jump shot &mdash; and in his reliance on that shot instead of the more physically demanding task of driving to the hoop. The top scorer in NBA history went 0 for 6 on 3-pointers in Game 2, making him 0 for 10 in the series. He has also missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter over the Lakers&rsquo; last 11 playoff games.
On top of the fatigue from the heavy workload for his 38-year-old body, James also sprained his left ankle in the third quarter of Game 2, although said he would be fine for Game 3.
Davis is prone to offensive inconsistency, and the stress of leading the Lakers&rsquo; defensive effort against mighty Denver may have affected him &mdash; although he insists it didn&rsquo;t. What&rsquo;s clear is that Davis&rsquo; 18-point performance on 4-of-15 shooting in Game 2 isn&rsquo;t enough from the Lakers&rsquo; franchise big man, particularly after his 40-point effort in Game 1, when the Lakers&rsquo; defense was much worse.
The Lakers are hoping for a big boost from their success-hungry home fans when they get back to their downtown arena, where they&rsquo;re 7-0 at home since the regular season ended.
&ldquo;The higher the levels you get to, you&rsquo;re going to face much, much tougher teams,&rdquo; Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;No disrespect to Memphis or Golden State, but (Denver) has been at the top of the food chain for a reason. Not just this year, but the last few years. So we&rsquo;ve definitely got our work cut out for us, but we&rsquo;re going to get better from this, as we always do, and we&rsquo;ll bounce back on our home floor.&rdquo;
The Lakers had lost back-to-back games just once &mdash; in mid-March &mdash; since the trade deadline. Their late-season turnaround is still stunning after the additions of D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley along with the departures of Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn, opening up playing time for vital supporting players Austin Reaves and Dennis Schr&ouml;der.
But all that quick work might not be enough to overcome the steady togetherness of the Nuggets, who have handled the Lakers much better than their own inferiority complex.
Coach Michael Malone curiously punctuated their gritty Game 2 victory with sarcastic jabs about the basketball world&rsquo;s supposed ignorance of two-time NBA MVP Jokic&rsquo;s talents, along with criticism of a &ldquo;national narrative&rdquo; he believed was too impressed by the Lakers&rsquo; Game 1 rally.
The winningest team in the West is making its fifth consecutive playoff appearance after its sixth straight winning season, yet Malone appears to be paying close attention to television&rsquo;s talking heads while pounding the nobody-believes-in-us narrative that permeates sports, even for professional powerhouses like the Nuggets and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Perhaps that&rsquo;s because these Nuggets have never been here before: They&rsquo;re as close to the NBA Finals as this franchise has ever been, up 2-0 on a 17-time NBA champion franchise with a global brand and the sport&rsquo;s most accomplished active player.
Eliminating LeBron and the Lakers would be a signature achievement for this Denver group, and it has a chance to all but lock up the achievement with a win in Game 3.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely going to be hostile there,&rdquo; Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said. &ldquo;They still feel like they&rsquo;re in this series, obviously. It&rsquo;s the first to four. It&rsquo;s not the first to two. They&rsquo;re not going to just roll over, and now they&rsquo;re back in LA.&rdquo;

After looking weary and mistake-prone in Denver during their first back-to-back losses in over two months, the Lakers face a must-win.

Lakers look for boost after falling behind Nuggets in Conference Finals

Scoring was up in the NBA this season, to a level not seen in more than a half-century.
NBA teams averaged 114.7 points per game. That&rsquo;s the ninth-highest figure in the league&rsquo;s 77 seasons and the most since teams averaged 116.7 per game in 1969-70.
It represents a jump of 3.7% over last season.
A record 282,127 points were scored this season, smashing the previous mark of 273,573 set in 2018-19.
FREE THROW RECORD
The NBA has never had a better season from the foul line. Again.
The league-wide record for accuracy will fall for the third time in the last four seasons. Teams have combined to shoot 78.2% from the line this season.
That topped the 77.8% mark from two seasons ago. And while that difference &mdash; a mere 0.4% &mdash; doesn&rsquo;t look like much, it is. NBA teams could have combined to miss their first 200 free throws on Sunday when the regular season was ending and still have been on pace to set a season record.
A BOSTON FIRST
When you&rsquo;ve done something that&rsquo;s never been done before in Boston Celtics history, that&rsquo;s impressive.
So, take a bow, Jayson Tatum.
The forward averaged 30.1 points per game this season &mdash; the most ever by a Celtics player. John Havlicek and Isaiah Thomas each averaged 28.9 in their best seasons in Boston, and Larry Bird averaged 29.9 in 1987-88, but Tatum is the first to average 30.
Bird technically averaged 29.93 points that season, and two more points would have given him 29.95, which many would have rounded up to 30.0. He was five points shy that season of averaging exactly 30 per game.
BRIDGES&rsquo; STREAK
Brooklyn&rsquo;s Mikal Bridges technically missed a game this season, but his consecutive games-played streak &mdash; now 392 games and counting &mdash; lives on because he wasn&rsquo;t eligible to play while the Nets were completing the process of acquiring him in a trade with the Phoenix Suns.
Regardless, he still played in a league-best 83 games this season. It&rsquo;s quirky, since a season is 82 games, but the Nets had more games to play than the Suns did when the trade happened. And it lived on in Sunday&rsquo;s season finale because Bridges appeared for the first 4 seconds to extend the streak, then checked out for the day.
Bridges didn&rsquo;t miss a game at Villanova, either. His last missed game was in high school.
Bridges is the first player to appear in 83 games in a season since Josh Smith in 2014-15. Bridges was one of 10 players to not miss a game this season &mdash; Houston&rsquo;s Tari Eason and Kenyon Martin Jr., Chicago&rsquo;s Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams, Boston&rsquo;s Derrick White, Golden State teammates Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole, New York&rsquo;s Isaiah Hartenstein and Sacramento&rsquo;s Harrison Barnes also played in all 82 for their clubs this season.
The NBA&rsquo;s all-time record for games in a season probably is one of those records that&rsquo;ll never be broken. Walt Bellamy played in 88 games in 1968-69 &mdash; 35 with New York, then 53 with Detroit.
SCORING MARGIN
San Antonio was outscored by just over 10 points per game this season &mdash; the worst margin in Spurs history.
It was the 20th time in NBA history that a team had been outscored, on average, by double digits for an entire season.
3&rsquo;s DOWN
For nine straight seasons &mdash; 2012-13 through 2020-21 &mdash; the NBA saw a record set annually for 3-pointers made per game.
It seems the growth era from beyond the arc has plateaued.
For the second consecutive year, 3-pointers made dropped this season, albeit slightly. The league saw an average of 24.7 3s per game this season, down from 24.9 per game last season and the record 25.4 per game in 2020-21.
The league finished the regular season with 30,359 3s made &mdash; just off the record total of 30,598 last season. But teams also attempted, on average, about 3% fewer 3-pointers this season than they did a year ago.
3s UP
That said, there were more highly prolific 3-point shooters this season than ever before. The league finished with 20 players with at least 200 3-pointers &mdash; the most ever, just ahead of the 18 who made at least 200 3s last season.
The 20 in the 200 Club this year: Golden State&rsquo;s Klay Thompson, Indiana&rsquo;s Buddy Hield, Golden State&rsquo;s Stephen Curry, Cleveland&rsquo;s Donovan Mitchell, Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard, Boston&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Malik Beasley, New York&rsquo;s Julius Randle, Dallas&rsquo; Tim Hardaway Jr., Portland&rsquo;s Anfernee Simons, New Orleans&rsquo; CJ McCollum, Golden State&rsquo;s Jordan Poole, Toronto&rsquo;s Fred VanVleet, Minnesota&rsquo;s Anthony Edwards, Sacramento&rsquo;s Keegan Murray, Miami&rsquo;s Tyler Herro, Sacramento&rsquo;s Kevin Huerter, Chicago&rsquo;s Zach LaVine, New Orleans&rsquo; Trey Murphy III and Utah&rsquo;s Lauri Markkanen.
AND 3s RECORDS
The Warriors finished with 1,363 3-pointers as a team, the most by any team in an NBA season. The previous record was 1,323 by the 2018-19 Houston Rockets.
Four of the six most prolific 3-point seasons in NBA history happened this season: The Warriors broke the record for a team, Boston (1,315) finished eight behind Houston&rsquo;s 2018-19 mark, Dallas (1,246) made the fifth-most in a season and Milwaukee (1,217) made the sixth-most in a season.
Golden State, Boston, Dallas and Milwaukee obviously also set their franchise single-season record for total 3s made. So did Brooklyn, Indiana, the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Sacramento.
BETTING STATS
Those who bet the Oklahoma City Thunder all season long probably did quite well.
The Thunder covered the spread a league-best 58.5% of the time this season, just ahead of Orlando and Philadelphia (57.3%).
The Los Angeles Lakers were a perfect 50% against the spread &mdash; 41 times covering, 41 times not.
Dallas and San Antonio bettors likely weren&rsquo;t happy. Those clubs both covered only 39% of the time, just a bit worse than Miami and Detroit (both 40.5%).
ONE OF EACH
Golden State&rsquo;s 56-point win over Portland on Sunday was the biggest of the season. The biggest rout going into the season&rsquo;s final day was a 45-point win by New Orleans on Nov. 21 &mdash; against the Warriors.
That made the Warriors the first team since the 1997-98 Trail Blazers to win a game by at least 45, and lose a game by at least 45, in the same season.
Portland beat Dallas 120-75 on Nov. 17, 1998. The Blazers lost to Indiana 124-59 on Feb. 27, 1998.

Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press breaks down the 2022-23 NBA season by the numbers.

Inside the NBA numbers: A look at the season’s stats

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Near the end of what he once referred to as the most important regular-season stretch of his career, LeBron James was able to briefly savor one thing many thought was going to be near impossible after 12 games.
The Los Angeles Lakers will have a winning record in the regular season.
The&nbsp;Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 121-107&nbsp;on Friday night for their 42nd win to guarantee a finish over .500. That was only a dream in early November when Los Angeles stumbled out of the gates with a 2-10 record.
&ldquo;I was just telling AD (Anthony Davis), &lsquo;Can you believe we&rsquo;re going to finish this season above .500 after everything that has gone on this season?&rsquo; We turned this thing around in the regular season,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s more basketball to be played, but to know that we&rsquo;re going to finish a few games above .500 is pretty cool.&rdquo;
According to Sportradar, the Lakers (42-39) are only the fourth team since 1981 to start 2-10 or worse and finish with a winning record. The New Jersey Nets did it twice (1981-82, 2004-05) while the Chicago Bulls beat the odds in 2004-05.
Los Angeles was able to accomplish its turnaround despite James and Davis being in the same lineup for only 35 games.
James missed 27 games, including a four-week stretch from late February to late March because of right foot soreness.
Davis was out for 26 games, mostly because of a right foot stress injury. He has missed only two games, though, since Feb. 1.
The Lakers have won five of their last seven since&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-lebron-james-return-injury-109c58929fb947c7ebd81540121a44f3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James returned to the lineup</a>&nbsp;on March 26. They didn&rsquo;t get over .500 until a 12-point&nbsp;win at Minnesota&nbsp;on March 31, the 77th game of the season.
&ldquo;We are playing extremely well. The guys did an unbelievable job when I was out. The games that I played (since returning), I just try to do my part,&rdquo; James said.
The biggest catalyst to the turnaround was the trade deadline, when the Lakers reset their roster. They acquired guards D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, forward Jarred Vanderbilt and center Mo Bamba, along with trading Russell Westbrook.
The Lakers&rsquo; 17-9 record since the Feb. 9 trade deadline is the second-best mark in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a real good group. There&rsquo;s a lot at stake and on the line that we have no choice but to improve,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Our practice has been games and we&rsquo;ve been able to figure out things on the fly.&rdquo;
Russell led the Lakers with 24 points and Beasley scored 21 in the win over the Suns. Austin Reaves also has emerged as an integral player, averaging 17.8 points since the All-Star break.
The Lakers&rsquo; main goal going into Sunday&rsquo;s regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz is trying to get into the top six and avoid the play-in tournament. They are seventh in the West and need help.
Going into the final day, the Lakers could finish as high as fifth or as low as ninth.
Coach Darvin Ham&rsquo;s main priority is trying to make sure his team gets some rest during what has been a late-season grind. Sunday&rsquo;s game will be their fourth in six days, with the possibility of a play-in game on Tuesday or Wednesday.
&ldquo;We have to do what we need to do to make sure we have the proper energy, the proper rest, care, making sure we&rsquo;re taking care of our guys and their physical issues,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;I just think the stakes being what they are is really going to ramp up our guys.&rdquo;
Even with the off day, James was in Portland on Saturday watching his son, Bronny, take part in the Nike Hoops Summit. James smiled when asked about taking the trip and said something that sums up the last month:
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no rest for the weary, you know?&rdquo;

After a season with plenty of ups and downs, the Los Angeles Lakers are guaranteed to finish with a record over .500.

Late-season turnaround propels Lakers to winning record

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis scored 40 points, LeBron James had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to tie Jason Kidd for fourth place with his 107th triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 134-109 on Sunday night.
The Lakers (40-38) moved two games over .500 and into a tie for seventh with the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference with four games to go. Los Angeles has won six of its last seven games and owns the tiebreaker over the Pelicans.
Davis scored 27 in the first half en route to his first 40-point performance since scoring 55 against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 4 and his third of the season.
Lakers starter D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, who has started every game since being acquired in a three-team trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 9, did not return to play in the second half due to left foot soreness. Russell had six points, four assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
In his 13 games with the Lakers, Russell had been averaging 18 points, 6.5 assists and three rebounds.
Alperen Sengun notched his third straight double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jalen Green scored 24 points and Kevin Porter Jr. chipped in 20 points. Prior to this stretch, Sengun had one double-double over the previous nine games played.
The Lakers owned a 70-60 halftime lead, which the Rockets cut to six with 9:38 to go in the third quarter on a reverse layup by Green.
With 30.3 seconds left in the third quarter, James got a roar from the Lakers fans with an emphatic one-handed tomahawk dunk to bring the Lakers&rsquo; lead back to 16. That was a part of a 20-7 run by Los Angeles to extend the lead to 117-90 with 7:56 to go.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Rui Hachimura scored 20 points and had a season-high 12 rebounds &hellip; Austin Reaves scored 16 points &hellip; Malik Beasley scored 13 points off the bench.
Rockets: All five starters scored in double digits. &hellip; Rockets coach Stephen SIlas received a technical foul with 8:30 left in the game &hellip; Houston Texans new coach DeMeco Ryans was introduced prior to the game and did the Rockets &ldquo;First Shot&rdquo;.
UP NEXT
Lakers: Visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.
Rockets: Host the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

Anthony Davis scored 40 points, LeBron James had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and the Lakers beat the Rockets 134-109.

Davis has 40, LeBron has triple-double as Lakers beat Rockets

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and had 17 rebounds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers past Minnesota 123-111 and leapfrog the Timberwolves on Friday night in the crowded Western Conference playoff race.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to have that one pivotal force that&rsquo;s leading the charge, and in our case with this particular team here in the moment it&rsquo;s AD,&rdquo; Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;When he comes out and he&rsquo;s aggressive and we&rsquo;re feeding him and he&rsquo;s not settling and he&rsquo;s putting pressure on the paint, putting pressure on the rim, we find ourselves having a lot of success.&rdquo;
LeBron James added 18 points and 10 rebounds and D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had 12 points and 10 assists against his former team as the Lakers (39-38) won for the fifth time in six games to move into seventh place. They&rsquo;re even with New Orleans, owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pelicans.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve made some huge climbs, but we&rsquo;re not finished,&rdquo; said Davis, who also had 38 points Wednesday in the win at Chicago. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hungry to not only make the playoffs but make some noise.&rdquo;
The Lakers improved to 9-4 since losing at home to the Wolves on March 3.
&ldquo;We jumped on AD&rsquo;s back, and he brought us home,&rdquo; James said.
Mike Conley had 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting with seven assists before fouling out, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points for the Timberwolves (39-39), who tumbled into ninth place. They entered the evening one game behind Golden State and the cut to avoid the play-in tournament, with the Warriors tipping off later at home against San Antonio.
Davis scored 12 straight points for the Lakers over a 3:52 span late in the fourth quarter to seal the steely comeback from a deficit that hit 13 points shortly after halftime. He made five baskets in a row with Wolves center Rudy Gobert on the bench, dominating on the glass, in the post and at the rim.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing at a super high level right now,&rdquo; Wolves coach Chris Finch said.
The Lakers took charge earlier with a 24-2 spurt over a 6:49 stretch of the third quarter with their defense on lockdown mode. Conley&rsquo;s turn to rest on the bench during that run was ill-timed. Davis rolled his left ankle around the start of the Lakers surge, a breath-holding sequence that only seemed to energize the visitors.
&ldquo;We started to turn the ball over, and the ball started to stick much more,&rdquo; Gobert said. &ldquo;We kind of lost our flow offensively, and it really affected our defense.&rdquo;
The Wolves, whose bench was shortened without center Naz Reid and his&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/Reid%20injured%20https://apnews.com/article/timberwolves-naz-reid-injury-bd6a7eaa1077434f088eadc549874d42" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">broken wrist</a>, went 2 for 14 from 3-point range in the third quarter and were outscored 35-18 in a discouraging stretch for a fired-up crowd that included local sports superstars Justin Jefferson and Kirill Kaprizov in floor seats.
FEELING BETTER
James has been rebuilding his stamina from the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-lebron-james-return-injury-109c58929fb947c7ebd81540121a44f3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">month-long absence</a>&nbsp;to a torn tendon in his right foot, and the second time with this new starting lineup with Davis, Russell, Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt produced a second win to start this five-game road trip.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be in the lineup on Sunday, so that&rsquo;s the best response I can have,&rdquo; James said.
Davis, for his part, said he finished the game on adrenaline and would be fine to play on Sunday, too.
WHISTLE STOP
Gobert ($25,000) and Finch ($15,000) were&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/timberwolves-rudy-gobert-chris-finch-fined-for-criticizing-refs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fined by the NBA</a> for criticizing the officiating Wednesday after their loss at Phoenix when the Suns had 27 free-throw attempts and the Wolves had 12.
In tonight's game, the Wolves went to the line 19 times &mdash; making 16 &mdash; and the Lakers had 30 tries.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Vanderbilt had 12 points. ... Another former Wolves player, Malik Beasley, had three first-quarter 3-pointers.
Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards had 11 points on just 4-for-16 shooting. ... Gobert had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Lakers: At Houston on Sunday night.
Timberwolves: Host Portland on Sunday.

Anthony Davis had 38 points and 17 rebounds to lift the Lakers past the Timberwolves 123-111 on Friday night.

Lakers overtake Timberwolves in standings with 123-111 win

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; LeBron James scored 19 points off the bench in his return from a monthlong injury absence, but Zach LaVine scored 32 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 118-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
DeMar DeRozan added 17 points for the Bulls, who easily overcame James&rsquo; return with an impressive performance in their seventh win in nine games. LaVine hit 11 of his first 14 shots to lead an offensive effort that snapped the Lakers&rsquo; three-game winning streak despite the return of the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader.
James sat out 13 games with right foot soreness, missing four weeks during the Lakers&rsquo; run at a playoff berth. The team provided few updates on his recovery, and his return came with little advance warning, the decision made only after a pregame workout.
And for only the second time in his 20-year, 1,958-game NBA career, James wasn&rsquo;t a starter. He came in as a reserve midway through the first quarter, still doing his standard pregame chalk toss while receiving a standing ovation from Lakers fans.
Troy Brown Jr. and Malik Beasley scored 18 points apiece, but Anthony Davis managed just 15 points and nine rebounds as the Lakers (37-38) failed to get above .500 for the first time since Jan. 9, 2022.
The Lakers still were without D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, who missed his second straight game with a right hip injury. Los Angeles went 8-5 in James&rsquo; absence, but his return will force an adjustment of the chemistry built by his teammates in his absence &mdash; and the Bulls took full advantage.
James got his first basket on a drive late in the first quarter, and he finished the first half with eight points. But Chicago largely controlled play, streaking to a 20-point lead in the second quarter. Los Angeles briefly got the lead down to single digits down the stretch, but got no closer.
The Bulls largely controlled Davis even after Nikola Vucevic was ejected in the second quarter with two quick technical fouls when he argued what appeared to be a good call against him.
Patrick Beverley had 10 points and five assists in his first game against the Lakers since they traded him last month. Beverley has been outspoken about his desire to hurt the Lakers&rsquo; playoff hopes during this home-and-home series between the teams, but Davis and the other Lakers smiled at his provocative talk.
When Beverley made a little hook shot with 1:12 left to boost Chicago&rsquo;s lead back to double digits, Beverley slapped the floor and made the dismissive &ldquo;too small&rdquo; gesture sometimes used by NBA players to taunt their opponents, in this case James.
TIP-INS
Bulls: DeRozan sat out Friday&rsquo;s win in Portland with a strained quadriceps ... Alex Caruso played against his former team through foot soreness. ... Javonte Green missed his second straight game with residual soreness in his return from right knee surgery. ... DeRozan will attempt to play in both back-to-back games in Los Angeles, coach Billy Donovan said.
Lakers: Russell has missed eight games with two injuries since joining the Lakers last month. He has played with James only twice. ... Wenyen Gabriel scored two points on his 26th birthday.
UP NEXT
Bulls: At Clippers on Monday.
Lakers: At Chicago on Wednesday.

LeBron James scored 19 points off the bench in his return from a monthlong injury absence, but Zach LaVine scored 32 points.

Bulls spoil LeBron’s return with 118-108 win over Lakers

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Kevin Porter Jr. scored 27 points and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-110 on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles scored five points, with a 3-pointer from Rui Hachimura, to get within four early in the fourth quarter. The Rockets countered with an 8-0 run, with the first five points from rookie Jabari Smith Jr., to push it to 96-83.
The Rockets were up by eight with 7.2 seconds to go before Malik Beasley hit a 3 for the Lakers to cut the lead to 114-109. Austin Reaves then got a steal and Porter fouled him with 0.3 seconds remaining. It was ruled a Flagrant-1 foul after a review, but Reaves made just 1 of 2 free throws and Houston held on.
It&rsquo;s the second straight victory for the Western Conference-worst Rockets, who beat Boston on Monday night.
Already without LeBron James because of an injury, the Lakers were also missing Anthony Davis against Houston. Davis, who had 35 points and 17 rebounds in a win over New Orleans on Tuesday night, isn&rsquo;t playing both games of back-to-back per doctors&rsquo; orders after coming back from a right foot injury.
Reaves had 24 points off the bench and D&rsquo;Angelo Russell added 18 as the Lakers lost for the second time in three games as they fight to stay in line for one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference.
Porter had 18 points before halftime despite missing the last two minutes of the second quarter after sustaining a cut about his left eye. He was bleeding profusely as he held a towel to the cut as he walked to the locker room. He returned to start the third quarter with a band-aid covering the cut.
Houston took advantage of the absence of Davis to dominate in the paint where the team outscored the Lakers 78-46.
The Rockets led by as many as 18 in the first half and had a 62-48 lead at halftime. That deficit came a night after Los Angeles led 75-40 at halftime after making a franchise-record 15 3-pointers in the first two quarters.
The Lakers used a 9-2 run to get within 79-74 with about three minutes left in the third quarter. Troy Brown Jr. made the first five points in that stretch and Wenyen Gabriel capped it with a basket.
But the Los Angeles offense went cold after that and didn&rsquo;t score for the rest of the quarter as Houston got baskets from Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate and Jalen Green to lead 83-74 after three.
TIP-INS
Lakers: James was out for the ninth straight game with a right foot injury. Mo Bamba missed a fifth straight game with a sprained left ankle. &hellip; Beasley had 16 points. ... Jarred Vanderbilt added 13 points with 11 rebounds. ... Gabriel had a career-high 15 rebounds.
Rockets: Alperen Sengun had 13 points and nine rebounds in his return after sitting out Monday night with a groin injury. &hellip; Kenyon Martin Jr. had 16 points and eight rebounds. ... Green scored 11 points.
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host Dallas on Friday night.
Rockets: Host New Orleans on Friday and Sunday nights.

Kevin Porter Jr. scored 27 points and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-110 on Wednesday night.

Porter scores 27 points, Rockets beat short-handed Lakers 114-110

NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Davis had 35 points and 17 rebounds, Malik Beasley hit seven 3-pointers in the first half, and the Los Angeles Lakers built a 36-point lead in the second quarter in its 123-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Beasley finished with 24 points for the Lakers, who shot 18 of 39 from 3-point range &mdash; including 15 of 27 before halftime.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell added 17 points to help Los Angeles (34-35) move one game ahead of New Orleans (33-36) in the Western Conference standings.
Brandon Ingram returned to New Orleans&rsquo; lineup after missing two games with a right ankle injury, but his 22 points were not nearly enough.
Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III each scored 20 for the Pelicans, who trailed 75-40 at halftime.

Anthony Davis had 35 points and 17 rebounds, and the Lakers built a 36-point lead in the second quarter in its win over the Pelicans.

Lakers beat Pelicans 123-108 behind Davis' 35 points, 17 rebounds

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Julius Randle scored 33 points in a bounce-back performance, RJ Barrett got 20 of his 30 in the second half, and the New York Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak with a 112-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
Immanuel Quickley had 15 points as the Knicks survived a ferocious late rally by the Lakers to salvage a weekend split in Los Angeles without second-leading scorer Jalen Brunson, who has a bruised left foot.
Los Angeles scored eight straight points down the stretch to make it close, trimming New York&rsquo;s lead to 110-108 on Dennis Schr&ouml;der&rsquo;s layup with 19.3 seconds left. After Los Angeles needed 14 seconds to commit a foul to stop the clock, former Lakers guard Josh Hart hit two free throws to seal it.
New York hadn&rsquo;t won since its impressive nine-game winning streak ended a week ago, but Randle added eight rebounds and five assists one day after struggling through a 5-for-24 shooting effort in a loss to the Clippers.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had a season-high 33 points and eight assists despite managing just two points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers, whose three-game winning streak ended with only their fourth loss in 12 games since the trade deadline.
Randle and Russell spent two seasons together as teammates with the Lakers. Russell got off to a scorching start in his highest-scoring performance since rejoining LA, but went 1 for 5 and missed three 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
Anthony Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds, but the Lakers fell behind during an erratic shooting performance by three starters: Malik Beasley, Troy Brown Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt were a combined 5 for 23, missing 14 of their 16 3-point attempts.
Los Angeles dropped to 4-3 during the latest injury absence for LeBron James, who missed his seventh straight game with a sore right foot.
Randle scored 18 points in the first quarter with help from seven free throws after he complained publicly about the officiating in Saturday&rsquo;s loss to the Clippers. Russell kept the Lakers close with 23 points in the first half, but Randle&rsquo;s 3-pointer shortly before halftime put the Knicks up at the break.
TIP-INS
Knicks: Coach Tom Thibodeau gave no timetable for his return, saying Brunson will &ldquo;continue to do treatments and see where he is.&rdquo; Brunson has missed four of New York&rsquo;s last five games. ... New York beat the Lakers in Los Angeles for the first time in four meetings since 2019.
Lakers: James wasn&rsquo;t wearing a walking boot when he returned to watch from the Lakers&rsquo; bench. He missed their previous two games while apparently taking some time away with his family. Coach Darvin Ham said James&rsquo; rehab is &ldquo;going according to plan,&rdquo; but it was good for the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader to &ldquo;unplug a little bit.&rdquo; ... Los Angeles got 43 combined points from the only four bench players used by Ham.
UP NEXT
Knicks: Host Portland on Tuesday.
Lakers: At New Orleans on Tuesday.

Julius Randle scored 33 points, and the Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak with a 112-108 win over the Lakers on Sunday,

Julius Randle, Knicks hold off Lakers 112-108 to snap 3-game skid

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Anthony Edwards scored 19 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a two-game Los Angeles sweep with a 110-102 victory over the short-handed Lakers on Friday night.
Naz Reid scored 15 for the Wolves, who moved back above .500 and rebounded from an 0-3 stretch with impressive back-to-back wins over the Clippers and Lakers, whose fourth-quarter rally fell just short. Minnesota also blew most of a big late lead three days ago against the Clippers, but their tenacity is promising to coach Chris Finch.
&ldquo;The last couple of games, it&rsquo;s been big for us,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve found a way. It&rsquo;s a perfect time to find that resiliency.&rdquo;
Anthony Davis scored 38 points and Malik Beasley had 15 for the Lakers, who lost for only the second time in six games. Los Angeles couldn&rsquo;t keep up without injured LeBron James and D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, who wasn&rsquo;t able to suit up against the team that traded him Feb. 9 after parts of four seasons in Minnesota.
The Lakers trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter, but made it close with a 16-6 run down the stretch. Minnesota&rsquo;s lead dwindled to three points before Davis lost his shoe during a defensive possession, leading to Mike Conley hitting an open 3-pointer with 1:13 to play. The Wolves closed it out authoritatively from there.
&ldquo;There was a time when it looked like we were playing in mud,&rdquo; Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. &ldquo;(The Wolves) are fighting for their lives as well and trying to get to the postseason. They had that urgency, and we didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
James missed his third straight game with a right foot injury, and the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader won&rsquo;t even be re-evaluated until late this month, when only a handful of games remain in the Lakers&rsquo; season. His absence threatens to negate the recent push by Los Angeles, which surged out of the trade deadline with its revamped roster.
The Lakers&rsquo; playoff fate could be determined before James returns: This loss to eighth-place Minnesota began a vital stretch of Los Angeles&rsquo; season with 10 of 12 games at home. Los Angeles is 5-3 since its flurry of activity at the deadline.
&ldquo;I feel like we&rsquo;re playing pretty good basketball,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;When our team is whole, we&rsquo;ve shown what we can do. It&rsquo;s just tough, knowing how good we are.&rdquo;
Eight Timberwolves scored at least eight points, leading Gobert to praise their reserves in a balanced offensive attack. Gobert got rolling himself on both ends of the court when he switched into a defensive matchup with Davis in the second quarter.
&ldquo;The last two games, the bench has been huge, coming into the game with that energy and the mindset,&rdquo; Gobert said. &ldquo;You can tell we&rsquo;re on a mission right now.&rdquo;
Davis still had a prolific offensive game, but with Gobert hounding him on defense, he also committed a season high-tying six turnovers, giving him 11 in his last two games.
Dennis Schr&ouml;der had 12 assists and no turnovers while playing on an injured ankle for the Lakers, who struggled to run an offense when their German point guard wasn&rsquo;t on the floor.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Jaylen Nowell missed his third straight game with a left knee injury. ... Conley finished with 14 points.
Lakers: Russell missed his fourth straight game since spraining his right ankle last week, but he is scrimmaging in practice, Ham said. Russell could return Sunday. ... Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Beasley will return to Target Center with the Lakers on March 31. ... They wore their Minneapolis Lakers throwback uniforms.
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: At Sacramento on Saturday.
Lakers: Host Golden State on Sunday.

Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and the Timberwolves got a 110-102 victory over the short-handed Lakers on Friday night.

Rudy Gobert leads Timberwolves past Lakers despite Anthony Davis’ 38

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is expected to miss "multiple weeks" <a href="https://theathletic.com/4258816/2023/02/27/lebron-james-lakers-foot-injury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports Shams Charania of The Athletic</a> after suffereing a right foot injury in Sunday's win against the Dallas Mavericks.
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Sources: There's fear Lakers star LeBron James is likely to miss an extended period of time with his right foot injury. James suffered the injury in Sunday's win over Dallas, played through it, and belief is he will be sidelined an indefinite amount.
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1630362855747862528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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James will likely get multiple opinions regarding the injury but the team is bracing for him to miss an extended period of time.
The Lakers star suffered the injury during the third quarter of their 111-108 comeback win over the Mavericks. Despite the injury, James played through it and finished the game with his team fighting to get into the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers are now 29-32 and sit in the 12th spot in the Western Conference.
L.A. has gone 4-1 since the trade deadline where it remade nearly half its roster, bringing in D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Mo Bamba. But losing James &ndash; who is averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists this season &ndash; will severely hurt their chances of making the post-season.
&nbsp;

Lakers' star LeBron James is expected to miss "multiple weeks" after suffering a right foot injury.

LeBron James expected to miss "multiple weeks" with foot injury

After months of wondering and waiting if the Los Angeles Lakers would make a deal, the team finally took initiative and struck before the NBA trade deadline &mdash; but they didn&rsquo;t just make one move.
The Lakers made four separate trades between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9, switching out nearly half of their roster after underperforming for the majority of the year. So far, the results have been quite promising.
Since acquiring D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed, the Lakers are 4-1; most recently, it includes a massive 27-point comeback win against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. LA now sits at No. 12 in the Western Conference, but is just one game back of the New Orleans Pelicans for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament.&nbsp;
When you look at this retooled version of the Lakers roster, it looks like a competent, balanced mix that makes sense together. Despite having two of the best players in the NBA in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it&rsquo;s been a while since this team could say that.
You have to go back three seasons &mdash; all the way to the 2019-20 campaign &mdash; to find the last time that happened; ironically, LA won a championship that year. However, since then, vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office have tried to reshape the roster over and over to try to find the magic again. Those attempts led to disastrous results; the Russell Westbrook experiment was perhaps the poorest decision, as LA gave up its best shooters and significant depth to acquire him.
It appears that, this time around, the Lakers finally learned their lesson, as Pelinka and Co. executed a full reversal. The franchise dealt Westbrook for three pieces in Russell, Beasley and Vanderbilt as part of its revamped "2.0" roster, and it&rsquo;s just what the team needed as it makes a push toward the playoffs.
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Russell &mdash; who is nursing an ankle injury but should be back in the lineup soon &mdash; has shown to have good chemistry with LeBron and AD so far in what has been a small sample size. He won&rsquo;t wow anyone with his numbers, but he&rsquo;s playing a smart, controlled game by picking his spots. Russell has a solid feel for when to look for his own shot and is limiting his turnovers, which are down to just 1.5 per game so far in his second stint with the Lakers.&nbsp;
Beasley is the &ldquo;laser&rdquo; that LeBron has been openly hoping for to help solve the Lakers' shooting problems from three-point range. Even when he isn&rsquo;t hitting his shots, teams have to account for him and his 38% career clip from deep.&nbsp;
Vanderbilt is infectious with his energy and effort, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He was the tone-setter Sunday with 15 points, 17 rebounds and 4 steals to spearhead LA's rallying victory against the Mavericks. (Vando looks to be the steal of the trade deadline.)
Hachimura hasn&rsquo;t blown the doors off since putting on the purple and gold, but he has added size and another shooting presence that teams have to deal with, providing more balance and space for the Lakers' offense.&nbsp;
That quartet of players has breathed a new life into the Lakers as a whole &mdash; particularly with experience.
&ldquo;Adding those pieces, I think it brings more balance,&rdquo; Lakers head coach Darvin Ham recently said. &ldquo;We have guys in that second unit that have been in the starting lineup and played starters' minutes and closed games for us, and had big moments in big games. So we have confidence in the entire roster. But that&rsquo;s a great shot in the arm that we were able to pick up at the trade deadline.&rdquo;
(Bamba debuted with three blocks for LA and registered a double-double in his second game with the team as well.)
Maybe most importantly, this Lakers team looks like it&rsquo;s having fun. There are smiles and high-fives galore with players rooting for one another. You can feel the energy shifting following those roster moves.
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Never get discouraged &mdash; compete harder. <a href="https://t.co/ojRZCVcd9M">pic.twitter.com/ojRZCVcd9M</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1630002602443153410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2023</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s still plenty of work to be done. The Lakers have two more games on an all-so-important road trip. Tuesday night, they'll play the Memphis Grizzlies and then, they'll take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in a back-to-back. (Plus, LA won't have LeBron for an extended period of time due to a foot injury, which obviously is a huge blow.)
There is no margin for error at this point. The last thing that LeBron, AD and the new-look Lakers want to do is miss the playoffs yet again. With that said, all signs are pointing up.
These guys believe in one another. They believe they can win. And, so far, they&rsquo;re showing it on the court.
Maybe, just maybe, they finally have the right pieces.
"I've always been confident in any club that I've been on [that] once we got into the playoffs, that we can compete with anyone, and I feel no different now," LeBron said. "With the roster, the way we're shaped up right now, if we can finish off this regular season on the right foot, then we can compete versus anyone in the Western Conference, if not the whole league...
"If we can punch our ticket, we can compete versus anyone."

Brian Fritz checks in on the new-look Lakers and how their new additions have given the team a jolt.

Lakers may have found the right formula following trade deadline moves

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; LeBron James had 21 points in his first game since becoming the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader, and Anthony Davis had 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the new-look Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
D&rsquo;Angelo Russell had 21 points and seven assists during his warm welcome home to the Lakers, who won for just the second time in six games. Los Angeles&rsquo; five new players all made their home debuts after last week&rsquo;s busy trade deadline, and the Lakers never trailed in one of this up-and-down team&rsquo;s most impressive performances of the season.
&ldquo;There was a huge emphasis on getting this win,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;Guys came out and played with a lot of energy and urgency. ... It was only our first game together, but it looked good.&rdquo;
James only had to play a season-low 29 minutes after taking the previous three games off to rest his sore left ankle and foot immediately after he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s record Feb. 7.
&ldquo;I feel really good about what we&rsquo;ve got brewing, but we need to lock in,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time we&rsquo;ve all been on the floor together, so we wanted to see what it looks like, and the first 40 minutes looked pretty good.&rdquo;
Russell&rsquo;s debut was actually a homecoming, because he played his first two NBA seasons for Los Angeles before getting traded four times and eventually returning last week. Russell was clearly thrilled to be back in Hollywood, putting on an impressive playmaking performance while also repeatedly exhorting the crowd to standing ovations for the Lakers.
After he hit a 3-pointer in the second half, Russell celebrated by pointing at the letters on his chest and screaming to the fans: &ldquo;Like I never left!&rdquo;
&ldquo;I love those moments,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;We had Bron tonight, and we seemed a little more fluid. Everybody pitched in. Everybody played a major part in keeping the lead, maintaining it, getting stops. I like what we showcased tonight.&rdquo;
The Lakers hit the All-Star break in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference at 27-32 &mdash; but the season isn&rsquo;t over yet, and they&rsquo;ve got promising reinforcements.
Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley joined James and Davis in the Lakers&rsquo; 30th starting lineup of the season, while Mo Bamba fouled out in 16 minutes as the backup center in his Lakers debut.
&ldquo;It was just hot,&rdquo; said Beasley, who scored eight poitns. &ldquo;We wanted to make a statement and do what we do.&rdquo;
Brandon Ingram scored 25 points and C.J. McCollum had 22 points and nine assists in his return from a one-game absence with a sprained right ankle for the Pelicans, who lost for only the second time in six games.
&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t play with a sense of urgency, and those were my end-of-game comments to our team,&rdquo; coach Willie Green said. &ldquo;We have to play with more force and have a sense of urgency that we just didn&rsquo;t have tonight. Not a great effort on our part.&rdquo;
New Orleans&rsquo; Josh Richardson was ejected for arguing a no-call with 10:52 to play.
TIP-INS
Pelicans: Zion Williamson attended the game and greeted James during a timeout. He has missed 22 straight games with a strained hamstring, and he is expected to be out for several weeks after the break. ... Former Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. sat out with left groin soreness.
Lakers: Davon Reed played the final 3 1/2 minutes and hit a 3-pointer. ... Bamba had four points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

LeBron James had 21 points, Anthony Davis had 28 in the new-look Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

LeBron, Anthony Davis get new-look Lakers past Pelicans

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and the new-look Lakers figured things out on the fly to take down the defending champs on their home floor.
Working to get in sync with his new teammates and eager to complement Anthony Davis and LeBron James, Russell communicated on the court all game long after rejoining his first team where he played from 2015-17. The Lakers picked Russell second overall in 2015 out of Ohio State.
He had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds in his Lakers return after being acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, and Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors 109-103 on Saturday night in a rivalry missing the star power of injured greats LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
&ldquo;It was a little weird but I&rsquo;m trying to normalize it,&rdquo; said Russell, who also played 33 games for the Warriors during the 2019-20 season. &ldquo;The sooner the better. I&rsquo;ve been in this situation. ... After that first stint you kind of get comfortable again. When you get traded so many times the irony comes back with all these teams and just kind of normalize it.&rdquo;
Schroder made a key layup with 1:17 to play after Donte DiVincenzo&rsquo;s 3-pointer cut the Lakers&rsquo; lead to 105-101. Davis had a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds and blocked one of his three shots on a late jumper by Klay Thompson.
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&ldquo;Me and D&rsquo;Lo literally talked the entire game, about pick-and-roll, what he sees, what I see, what he like, what I like ... just trying to build that chemistry on the fly, with no practice,&rdquo; Davis said.
Jordan Poole had 29 points and six assists with a key go-ahead three-point play with 6:23 remaining, but the Warriors floundered down the stretch of the fourth quarter again. He was whistled for an offensive foul with 45 seconds left.
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re frustrated we couldn&rsquo;t close out these last two games,&rdquo; coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;We just haven&rsquo;t been able to string together enough wins to create a little momentum and separation in the standings.&rdquo;
Poole scored eight straight points early in the fourth with back-to-back 3-pointers that tied the game at 87 with 10:37 left. He also dished off to Ty Jerome for a layup with 5:01 to play.
James sat out his second straight game with a left foot injury since becoming the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader Tuesday against Oklahoma City, while reigning NBA Finals MVP Curry was sidelined for a third in a row with a left leg injury.
Also playing his first game for Los Angeles following a trade from Utah, Jarred Vanderbilt contributed 12 points and eight rebounds as the last-place Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak. Fellow new addition Malik Beasley missed all six of his 3s and shot 2 for 9 on the way to four points in his first game for the Lakers after being traded by Utah.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a huge win. I couldn&rsquo;t be more proud of my team,&rdquo; coach Darvin Ham said.
JAMES&rsquo; HEALTH
A scan done on James&rsquo; troublesome left ankle and foot showed no serious issue.
Ham expects to see James back on the floor before the All-Star break. When asked whether James might need to be sidelined through the break, Ham offered, &ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;ll allow us to do that.&rdquo;
General manager Rob Pelinka said earlier Saturday that nothing was seriously wrong for James, who topped former Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during Tuesday&rsquo;s 133-130 home loss to Oklahoma City.
The game with Golden State marked James&rsquo; seventh sidelined by soreness in the left ankle.
PAYTON II UPDATE
The Warriors hadn&rsquo;t made an announcement regarding Gary Payton II&rsquo;s physical and whether they would go through on an agreed trade with Portland to bring the defensive-minded guard back to Golden State.
&ldquo;Obviously, this whole thing has been strange. It is what it is,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There is not a whole lot to do or say, so we are just waiting it out and seeing how it plays out.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Lakers: Other new acquisitions Mo Bamba and Davon Reed didn&rsquo;t play. ... The Lakers opened the season at Chase Center with a 123-109 loss on Oct. 18 and Ham has been pleased with the progress, saying &ldquo;I&rsquo;d give us a B. I think it&rsquo;s been good. It&rsquo;s year 1.&rdquo; He also said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve shown a lot of resolve. We&rsquo;ve shown a fierce competitive spirit.&rdquo; ... LA improved to 2-9 against the Pacific Division having lost the previous two.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-529 apnews_article_midarticle_4" data-card-id="sovrn-article-midarticle">Warriors: Poole joined Draymond Green (14) with double-digit technicals this season. ... Golden State had won the last two vs. LA and three in a row in the series at home. ... The Warriors have to monitor the number of games for its two-way players, so Anthony Lamb is back with the G League Santa Cruz team. ... The Warriors will still play the Lakers twice at Crypto.com Arena.</div>
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D'Angelo Russell had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds in his Lakers return as L.A. beat the Golden State Warriors 109-103.

Russell shines in return to Lakers after trade by T-Wolves

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; LeBron James took the microphone at center court under a spotlight Thursday night, and all the fans who guessed wrong rose to unleash a mighty roar.
Two days after James became the NBA&rsquo;s scoring king, the achievement was still a thrill to him. In a pregame ceremony, he got to share it with the Lakers faithful who bought tickets one game too late to see it in person.
James paused to gather his thoughts while the three scoreboard ribbons running the circumference of the Lakers&rsquo; downtown arena all rotated the same message: &ldquo;LeBron James &mdash; NBA All-Time Leading Scorer.&rdquo;
&ldquo;As I sit up here and look at this thing going around right now, it&rsquo;s just so surreal to me,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;But the one thing I know for sure is that I&rsquo;ve never cheated the game of basketball. And I would never cheat the game of basketball, because it&rsquo;s given so much to myself. It&rsquo;s given so much to my family.&rdquo;
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Two days after he broke the record, James was still basking in the achievement of a lifetime &mdash; and even the fans who bought tickets for the Lakers&rsquo; meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks instead of their game against Oklahoma City on Tuesday night got a memory for their efforts.
The Lakers held a brief ceremony to recognize James, who was sitting out their first game since the record to rest his sore left foot and ankle.
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Moments before James took the court, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar offered his thoughts on James&rsquo; place in the game&rsquo;s history after breaking Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s record of 38,387 points, a mark that had stood for nearly 39 years.
&ldquo;The game has had eras, and LeBron, without a doubt, is the greatest player of his era,&rdquo; Abdul-Jabbar said. &ldquo;And that era is right behind that of Shaquille (O&rsquo;Neal), Michael Jordan. There are people that dominated the game, and then there are people that capture everybody&rsquo;s imagination. I think that&rsquo;s what Michael Jordan did. Everybody wanted to be him, to do what he did.&rdquo;
Abdul-Jabbar noted the folly of the so-called G.O.A.T debates, noting that eras in basketball vary wildly.
&ldquo;How many people in here saw Sweetwater Clifton play? I didn&rsquo;t. Most of us didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Abdul-Jabbar said. &ldquo;He was awesome, but that was back in the early &rsquo;50s, without the 24-second clock. ... I think the reason they have sports bars with all those TVs is so people can go in there and argue like this, because we&rsquo;re not going to find out.&rdquo;
James&rsquo; place in the game&rsquo;s history is already secure as he attempts to revive the Lakers&rsquo; playoff chances deep in his 20th NBA season. James&rsquo; left ankle has periodically forced him to miss games this season, including six since November.
On court in a sharp suit, James was in a reflective mood: He recalled the Christmas before his fourth birthday in 1988 in Akron, Ohio, as the moment he fell in love permanently with the game when his mother, Gloria, bought him a kiddie hoop and a small basketball.
&ldquo;From that moment on, I knew that orange sphere was something that I always wanted to be a part of my journey,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;Who would have known? Someone said on social media that that was the biggest investment in the history of mankind. A $20 Little Tikes hoop could turn into what it&rsquo;s turned into today. Mom, thank you so much.&rdquo;
James was also in an appreciative mood with his mother in attendance alongside his three children and his wife, Savannah.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my starting five right there,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;Savannah ... she&rsquo;s the real MVP, if you want to be completely honest. She&rsquo;s the all-time leading scorer, if you want to be completely honest. My boys would say they are the all-time leading scorers, but I don&rsquo;t think Savannah will allow that tonight.&rdquo;
James then addressed the Lakers&rsquo; fans, who have embraced a longtime rival ever since he arrived in 2018. He assumed an exemplary public leadership role for the franchise in the wake of Kobe Bryant&rsquo;s death in 2020 &mdash; and later in the year, he led Los Angeles to its 17th championship.
&ldquo;My family is everything to me, and you guys over the last five years have become family to me as well, so thank you to the Laker faithful,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;You guys are unbelievable, and every night I step on the floor, I truly understand what it means to represent the Los Angeles Lakers.&rdquo;
James&rsquo; absence and the Lakers&rsquo; flurry of trades over the past two days left them with only nine players in uniform when they faced the powerhouse Bucks.
Los Angeles traded away Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones while acquiring D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed.
The moves are an attempt to salvage another disappointing year for James and the Lakers, who have foundered at the back of the Western Conference pack all season long with Anthony Davis struggling through his annual injury problems. The 13th-place Lakers fell to 25-30 with their 133-130 loss to Oklahoma City on James&rsquo; historic night.
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Two days after James became the NBA’s scoring king, LeBron James said the achievement was still a thrill to him.

2 days later, LeBron still feels scoring record is ‘surreal’

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 10 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied in the second half for their ninth consecutive victory, 115-106 over the Los Angeles Lakers without LeBron James on Thursday night.
James sat out to rest his sore left ankle and foot&nbsp;two nights after he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader. The Bucks still fell behind by 11 in a tepid first half and never pulled away from an opponent with only nine players in uniform, but Antetokounmpo racked up 23 points in the second half.
Khris Middleton scored 22 points and Jrue Holiday added 18 for the Bucks, who matched their longest winning streak since their 9-0 start to this season. Milwaukee is primed for the stretch run to the postseason after adding veteran Jae Crowder to its talented core at the trade deadline.
&ldquo;Our offense has been better for this stretch,&rdquo; coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;Tonight we did not shoot it well, but I think generally speaking, we&rsquo;ve been shooting the ball better. I think it&rsquo;s been our unselfishness, the way the ball has moved, the pop that we&rsquo;re playing with. Getting Khris healthy makes a big difference, so it&rsquo;s a little bit of everything. It&rsquo;s hard to keep a stretch like this going, but we want to keep pushing.&rdquo;
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Dennis Schr&ouml;der had 25 points and 12 assists in a standout performance at point guard for the Lakers, who had only four reserves after their flurry of trades in the past two days.
Los Angeles shipped out Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones while adding D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed.
Russell, Vanderbilt and Beasley sat on the Lakers&rsquo; bench to watch this game with their new teammates.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to put everything together,&rdquo; said Anthony Davis, who had 23 points and 16 rebounds while battling foul trouble. &ldquo;Obviously we know what we have on paper. We&rsquo;ve got to put it to the floor. We&rsquo;re behind the 8-ball, so we&rsquo;ve got to do it with some urgency. These guys coming in are ready to get going.&rdquo;
The Lakers are 25-31 after their third straight loss, and they&rsquo;re in desperate need of a winning surge if they hope to avoid missing the playoffs for the second straight season.
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James missed his 12th game of the season with an injury that has required constant maintenance.&nbsp;The Lakers honored his achievement with a pregame ceremony&nbsp;in which he thanked his fans and his family while describing the week as &ldquo;surreal.&rdquo;
Despite using their 28th starting lineup in 56 games this season, the short-handed Lakers improbably took a 58-50 halftime lead while Milwaukee missed 23 of its 28 3-point attempts.
THE REAL STORY
Davis ended a surge of internet speculation about why he was curiously sitting on the Lakers&rsquo; bench instead of watching the moment James broke the scoring record Tuesday: He didn&rsquo;t realize LeBron was about to make history.
&ldquo;We were losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that we needed, and I was (ticked) off that we were losing,&rdquo; Davis said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very simple. It&rsquo;s nothing had to do with Bron. He knows that.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Bucks: Crowder is unlikely to join the team before it returns home to Milwaukee, Budenholzer said. The Bucks gave up George Hill, Serge Ibaka, Jordan Nwora and three future second-round picks to get the defense-minded, playoff-tested Crowder, who played at Marquette. &ldquo;I just feel like Jae is a winner,&rdquo; Budenholzer said. &ldquo;His toughness, his defense, what he brings on that end of the court is special.&rdquo;
Lakers: Coach Darvin Ham said James had &ldquo;imaging&rdquo; done on his foot, but it didn&rsquo;t show &ldquo;anything extensive, just normal wear and tear.&rdquo; ... Ham is hoping all five newcomers are available for their next game Saturday. &ldquo;All those guys bring unique skill sets that we need,&rdquo; Ham said.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 10 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks topped the Los Angeles Lakers 115-106.