Lakers edge Celtics in thriller; Suns extend Mavs' losing streak
MANILA, Philippines — The Los Angeles Lakers arrested a two-game slide after edging out longtime rivals the Boston Celtics, 96-95, in a thriller on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).
In a back-and-forth affair that saw 17 lead changes and 15 deadlocks, it was Anthony Davis and the Lakers who came out victorious in at the TD Garden in Boston.
Superstar duos LeBron James and Davis, and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum battled in the game, with each duo combining for 48 and 58 points, respectively.
The Lakers were up by as big as seven, 96-89 with about 1:40 left in the game.
But Kemba Walker and Tatum would score six straight for the Celtics to put them within one, 96-95 with 32 ticks left in regulation.
Boston then had a defensive stop with a Walker block on Davis with 10 seconds left.
Walker missed on a stepback jumpshot and then Daniel Theis would fail to convert on a tip in to seal the win for the Lakers.
The Lakers improve to 15-6 for the second best record in the NBA, trailing the red-hot Utah Jazz.
The Phoenix Suns, for their part, kept the Dallas Mavericks reeling, 111-105.
Chris Paul's 29 points led the Suns' effort to send Luka Doncic and the Mavericks to their fifth loss in a row.
The Suns needed to climb out of a 15-point deficit in the third salvo to frustrate the Dallas squad.
Doncic paced the Mavs with 29 points in the loss.
Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies tallied their 6th win in a row in their first game back since January 19 (January 20 in Manila) after beating the San Antonio Spurs, 129-112.
The Grizzlies hardly showed rust after five games were postponed due to the league's health and safety protocols and cruised to the win over the Spurs.
De'Anthony Melton topscored for the Grizzlies with 20 points and led seven Memphis players that scored double figures.
Derrick White paced the Spurs in the losing effort with 18 markers.
In the last game of the day, the Golden State Warriors made easy work of the Detroit Pistons, 118-91.
The Warriors cruised to a wire-to-wire victory over the Eastern Conference cellar dwellers with their lead ballooning to as big as 35 points in the fourth quarter.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 28 points.
- Latest
- Trending
