LeBron James had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers used a second-half turnaround to defeat the visiting Denver Nuggets 114-93 on Thursday.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points as seven Lakers reached double figures. Talen Horton-Tucker contributed 17 points, Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell added 13 apiece and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 11. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 10 points.
Jamal Murray scored 20 points and Monte Morris had 16 for the Nuggets. JaMychal Green scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic had a subpar performance, scoring 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and six assists.
Golden State Warriors 147 – Dallas Mavericks 116
Kelly Oubre Jr. exploded for a career-high 40 points and size-challenged Golden State used a small-ball approach to outgun host Dallas in the opener of a two-game set.
Oubre hit 14 of 21 shots and seven of 10 from 3-point range en route to topping the 39 points he had for the Phoenix Suns against the Houston Rockets last February. Stephen Curry chipped in with 28 points and six assists in 30 minutes for the Warriors, who suited up only nine players.
Kristaps Porzingis, who at 7-feet-3 stood eight inches taller than any Warrior in uniform, had 25 points for Dallas. Luka Doncic paced the Mavericks with 27.
Utah Jazz 112 – Atlanta Hawks 91
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score 23 points and visiting Utah whipped short-handed Atlanta for its 13th win in the past 14 games.
Clarkson matched his season high with five 3-pointers and had seven rebounds. Four of his teammates also scored in double figures — Bojan Bogdanovic with 21 points, Donovan Mitchell with 18, Rudy Gobert with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Conley with 11.
The Hawks were playing without their two leading scorers — Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter. John Collins followed Wednesday night’s 35-point performance by scoring 17. Clint Capela had 17 rebounds, his 18th straight game with double-digit rebounds.
Houston Rockets 115 – Memphis Grizzlies 103
John Wall scored 22 points, Eric Gordon added 20 points and rookie Jae’Sean Tate chipped in a career-high 19 as Houston rolled to a victory at Memphis.
Tate added seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks to his ledger, providing the Rockets with a strong two-way presence. Wall hit 4 of 9 3-point tries while Wood and Danuel House Jr. made three treys apiece.
Desmond Bane led the Grizzlies with 16 points off the bench while Ja Morant added 15. Tyus Jones and Brandon Clarke chipped in 13 points apiece.
Portland Trail Blazers 121 – Philadelphia 76ers 105
Gary Trent Jr. scored 24 points, Carmelo Anthony added 22 and depleted Portland stunned host Philadelphia.
Enes Kanter contributed 17 points and 18 rebounds, Rodney Hood added 16 points, CJ Elleby had 15 and Anfernee Simons 14 for the Trail Blazers, who began the night with only nine available players. Damian Lillard (abdominal strain) was among those absent.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 37 points while Tyrese Maxey added 15. Ben Simmons was a late scratch due to a sore left calf. Seth Curry was scoreless in 12 minutes and then didn’t return because he was reportedly ill.