LeBron James had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers used a turn in the second half to beat Denver Nuggets 114-93 visiting Thursday.
Dennis Schroder scored 21 points when seven Lakers reached double figures. Talen Horton-Tucker added 17 points, Anthony Davis and Montrezl Harrell added 13 apiece and Kyle Kuzma added 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.
Nikola Jokic had a subpar performance at Denver, scoring 13 points on a 6-of-16 shooting while sending 10 rebounds and six assists.
Golden State Heroes 147 – Dallas Mavericks 116
Kelly Oubre Jr. exploded for a high of 40 points and Golden State with a small size challenge used an approach to beat Dallas in a two-game set opener.
Oubre hit 14 of 21 hits and seven of 10 from a 3-point field on the way to the top of his 39 points for the Phoenix Suns against the Houston Rockets in February last year. Stephen Curry played in with 28 points and six assists in 30 minutes for the Warriors, which only nine players enjoyed.
Kristaps Porzingis, who stood 7-feet-3 eight inches taller than any Hero in uniform, was 25 points ahead of Dallas. Luka Doncic stopped the Mavericks by 27.
Utah Jazz 112 – Atlanta Hawks 91
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to score 23 points and hit Utah whipping Atlanta short for his 13th win in the last 14 games.
Clarkson matched his season high with five points-3 and had seven rebounds. Four of his players also won 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 top two scores – 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 two-digit rebounds.
Houston Rockets 115 – Memphis Grizzlies 103
John Wall scored 22 points, Eric Gordon added 20 points and rookie Jae’Sean Tate entered a career at level 19 when Houston moved to victory at Memphis.
Tate added seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks to his ledger, giving the Rockets a strong two-way presence. Wall hit 4 of 9 3-point attempts while Wood and Danuel House Jr. three traits of apiece.
Desmond Bane led the Grizzlies with 16 points off the bench while Ja Morant put in 15. Tyus Jones and Brandon Clarke shook in 13 points respectively.
Portland Trail Blazers 121 – Philadelphia 76ers 105
Gary Trent Jr. received. 24 points, Carmelo Anthony added 22 and put down Portland on hosting Philadelphia.
Enes Kanter added 17 points and 18 rebounds, Rodney Hood added 16 points, CJ Elleby and Anfernee Simons had 14 for the Trail Blazers, who started the night with just nine players available. Damian Lillard (abdominal strain) was among those absent.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 37 points while Tyrese Maxey scored 15. Ben Simmons was a late scoring due to a sore left calf. Seth Curry was scoreless in 12 minutes and then did not return because he was ill.
–Field Media Level