After days of speculation about a groin sprain, Le Bron James eventually played for the LA Lakers on Tuesday night.
It didn’t help though. The Brooklyn Nets sneaked home the 104-102 winners when Spencer Dinwiddie hit with a step back jumper over Avery Bradley in the dying moments.
Big gun Anthony Davis could still have won the game for the Lakers when he was presented with a last-second, wide-open 3-pointer. Unfortunately for the home-team Lakers fans, his shot bounced off the back rim. And yes. It meant that quite unexpectedly and suddenly King James’ Western Conference front-runners had lost. Their 4-game winning streak had been broken
James, the NBA’S most recent ‘Player of the Week’, finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. He also set up the potential game-winner for Davis, but it simply wasn’t enough.
It might just have been, though, had James himself not missed a game-tying layup seconds before Davis did.
Davis had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 102.
In truth, though, the Lakers waited too long to rally and were done in by a short-handed Nets squad that had changed head coaches less than three days ago.
Dinwiddie led the Nets with 23 points and seven assists while Caris LeVert had 22 points. The Nets also got unexpected big contributions off the bench from unheralded guards Chris Chiozza and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
Clippers bounce back
Things were different for LA’s other high-flying NBA basketball team, the LA Clippers
They bounced back from last Sunday’s loss to the Lakers by routing the Golden State Warriors 131-107 away from home in San Francisco.
Kawhi Leonard posted 23 points before sitting out the entire fourth quarter, along with the rest of the Clippers’ starting line-up.
Tatum stars as Celtics secure playoff berth
Jayson Tatum put up 30 points for the Boston Celtics as they qualified for the post-season play-offs for the sixth consecutive year.
Gordon Hayward added 27 points and 10 rebounds in the Celtics 114-111 defeat of the Indiana Pacers.
Harden and Westbrook back in the points
James Harden scored 37 points and Russell Westbrook finished with 27 as the Houston Rockets snapped a four-game losing skid and beat Minnesota Timberwolves 117-111.
Luka Doncic registered 38 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Dallas Mavericks. They lost 109-119 away to the San Antonio Spurs.
Beal gets another 40 points
The Washington Wizards benefited from another big Bradley Beal performance in their 122-115 victory over the New York Knicks. Beal fired home 40 points, surpassing the 25-plus points target for the 22nd time in 23 games.
Meanwhile the Portland Trail Blazers’ starters jointly posted double-digit points in their 121-105 defeat of the Phoenix Suns. Major points scorers were Damian Lillard (25), CJ McCollum (22), Trevor Ariza (22), Carmelo Anthony (21) and Hassan Whiteside (16, 14 rebounds).
Mulder headlines Warriors woes
With back-from-injury Stephen Curry now sidelined by the flu, Mychal Mulder went to guard for the Warriors – and struggled. Mulder was one-of-nine from the field and 0 of seven from three-point range for three points in 26 minutes.
Aron Baynes made NBA history for the Phoenix Suns on Friday. The Australian joined Harden as the only other player to have posted 30-plus points, 15-plus rebounds and eight or more three-pointers in the game that followed immediately after a career-high 37 points, 16 rebounds and nine three-pointers.
Things were very different playing against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, though.
This time Baynes was just three-of-14 from the field and one-of-seven from beyond the arc for just seven points as the Trail Blazers triumphed 121-105.
All of Tuesday’s NBA results
Boston Celtics 114-111 Indiana Pacers
Washington Wizards 122-115 New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls 108-103 Cleveland Cavaliers
Houston Rockets 117-111 Minnesota Timberwolves
Orlando Magic 120-115 Memphis Grizzlies
San Antonio Spurs 119-109 Dallas Mavericks
Portland Trail Blazers 121-105 Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Clippers 131-107 Golden State Warriors
Brooklyn Nets 104-102 Los Angeles Lakers
.@SDinwiddie_25‘s jumper proves to be the game-winner for the @BrooklynNets! #WeGoHard pic.twitter.com/fC996e3Zos
— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2020