LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25 (BNA): LeBron James hit a career-high nine three-pointers while scoring 46 points, but the Los Angeles Clippers hit 19 three-pointers en route to a comfortable 133-115 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
James scored at least 40 points against the Clippers for the first time in his 20-year career, giving him a 40-point game against all 30 teams in the NBA. James reached his record-breaking ninth three-pointer with 6:45 to play, setting his career-high from a distance in his 1,404th career game, AP reports.
James also extended his pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record with his 101st 40-point game, including the postseason. Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) trails by just 177 points, putting him in position to potentially break the end of a road swing coming from five games for the Lakers rather than heading home to Los Angeles.
James’ brilliance wasn’t enough: The Lakers never caught up after trailing by 23 points, and James spent the final minutes on the bench after the Clippers pulled away for their 10th straight victory over their fellow courtmates in downtown Los Angeles. .
Paul George scored 27 points and nine rebounds and Kawhi Leonard added 25 points for the Clippers’ third consecutive win. The Clippers scored a season-high 15 three-pointers in the first half while scoring a season-high 77 points and jumping out to a 23-point halftime lead.
Heat 98, Celtics 95
Miami: Bam Adebayo scored 30 points and 15 rebounds, including a jump shot that put Miami ahead with 20.4 seconds remaining, and the Heat surged from 14 points to beat Boston.
Haywood Highsmith scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Max Stross scored 13 points and Victor Oladipo scored 12 points for the Heat.
A 15-0 lead in the fourth quarter lifted the Heat, who split the regular season series with the Celtics 2-2.
Jason Tatum finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists for the Celtics. Derrick White scored 23 points and Robert Williams III scored 11 points.
Tyler Hero stole a cross from Jason Tatum with just over a second remaining, denying Boston a chance to tie the game or take the lead.
Highsmith’s free throw with 0.6 seconds left put Miami up by 3. Boston called the time, and Payton Pritchard’s 30-foot wide went down as time expired.
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DALLAS: Kyle Kuzma scored 30 points and made one of two tie-breaking free throws with 4.2 seconds left, as Washington beat Dallas.
Luka Doncic scored 41 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Mavericks. Doncic is still wearing the jersey he tore when he missed a free throw that would have put Dallas ahead with 12.5 seconds left when he hit Comza along the sideline.
The Mavericks challenged, but the call was confirmed. Kuzma missed the first free throw, but hit the second.
Doncic twice attempted a pass to Spencer Dinwiddie from a double on the final possession. The Wizards knocked the first out of bounds, and Dillon Wright stole the second to seal the victory.
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NEW ORLEANS: Nikola Jokic capped a performance of 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on his comeback from a hamstring tightness with a go-ahead in the paint with 16.9 seconds left, helping Denver overpower a undernumbered New Orleans .
Jamaal Murray scored 25 points for the Nuggets, who led almost the entire game and as many as 19 before New Orleans stormed back in the fourth quarter for their only lead of the second period at 98-97 with 36.9 seconds left.
After Jokic put Denver back in front, the Pelicans had three shots to win in the final seconds before losing their fifth in a row.
CJ McCollum scored 20 points for New Orleans, but missed all of his three-point shots.
Light 128, Hornets 97
Phoenix: Cam Johnson scored 24 points, Dario Saric added 19, and Phoenix beat Charlotte for the fourth time in a row.
The Suns built a 30-point lead midway through the second quarter, though Charlotte cut it to 58-50 early in the third quarter. Phoenix restored its lead to 98-77 with the fourth before cruising to a comfortable victory.
Johnson was hot from the start, scoring 16 points in the first quarter by hitting all six of his shots, including four three-pointers. The forward was playing in his third game since returning from a knee injury that has kept him out for more than two months. He needed just 18 minutes on the ground to do his damage, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 6-of-7 in 3 seconds.
Terry Rozier scored 19 points for Charlotte.
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New York: Julius Randle had 36 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and his eighth 3-pointer finished tied with 2:07 left as New York beat Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points, eight assists and eight rebounds on his return to the Cavaliers from a three-game absence due to a left groin strain. But he was stopped on his last three attempts at the rim and was slow to get up after falling to the ground trying to save Cleveland’s final possession, saying afterwards that his legs were sore.
RJ Barrett added 16 points and Jalen Bronson 14 for the Knicks, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Garrett Allen scored 24 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, while Darius Garland added 22 points and six assists.
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Indianapolis: Miles Turner and Benedict Mathurin each scored 26 points and Mathurin’s short, blinking basket with 29.1 seconds remaining helped Indiana end a rally from 21 points behind to win against Chicago.
Indiana snapped its worst seven-game losing streak to stay ahead of 10th-ranked Chicago in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers again played without injured point guard Terese Haliburton and this time without his replacement, Andrew Nimbard, who was ill.
TJ McConnell had 20 points and 10 assists for the Pacers. DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points for Chicago.