NBA roundup: Malik Beasley leads revamped Lakers to win

James, who scored five points in the first half, saw his streak of scoring at least 20 points end at 37 games. He added nine rebounds and eight assists.

Published : Feb 24, 2023 14:49 IST

Malik Beasley in action.
Malik Beasley in action. | Photo Credit: AP
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Malik Beasley in action. | Photo Credit: AP

Malik Beasley scored 25 points and Austin Reaves added 17 as the new-look Los Angeles Lakers earned a 124-111 victory Thursday over the visiting Golden State Warriors in the first game back from the All-Star break for both teams.

After his lowest-scoring first half of the season, LeBron James finished with 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting for the Lakers, who won for the third time in their last four games (with two of those victories against the Warriors). Anthony Davis scored 12 points with 12 rebounds for Los Angeles.

James, who scored five points in the first half, saw his streak of scoring at least 20 points end at 37 games. He added nine rebounds and eight assists.

Klay Thompson scored 22 points and Ty Jerome added 20 for the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry (leg) and Andrew Wiggins (personal). Golden State lost for the fourth time in its last five games and remained stuck on seven road victories, the lowest among postseason-eligible teams.

Jazz 120, Thunder 119 (OT)

Lauri Markkanen scored 43 points, including three clutch free throws in the final seconds, and grabbed 10 rebounds as Utah rallied to beat Oklahoma City in overtime at Salt Lake City.

Markkanen scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz overcome a nine-point deficit and force an extra session. He also hit three foul shots with 4.6 seconds to go in OT to put Utah up by one. Jordan Clarkson added 24 points for the Jazz.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was on Markkanen’s All-Star team on Sunday, led the Thunder with 39 points and seven assists and also pulled down eight rebounds. However, he missed a game-winning attempt at the OT buzzer.

Kings 133, Trail Blazers 116

De’Aaron Fox took advantage of a short-handed and travel-weary Portland roster to pour in 31 points as Sacramento romped at home behind Domantas Sabonis’ seventh triple-double of the season.

The Trail Blazers elected to hold Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant out of the game after Portland, following a long weather-related delay on the runway and eventual flight cancellation on Wednesday night, was unable to travel into the California capital until Thursday morning.

The 11 players who suited up for the Trail Blazers didn’t appear to be bothered by the nuisance early in the game, as Portland blasted out to 11-2, 19-4 and 27-11 leads en route to a 37-29 advantage through 12 minutes. But the rest of the night belonged to the Kings, who scorched the Portland defense for 54-percent shooting en route to their 15th 130-point game of the season and their fourth win in six games.

Myles Turner connected for a career-high eight 3-pointers and tied a career high with 40 points for the Pacers, who made 22 3-pointers in the game. Turner made 8 of 10 shots from behind the arc. Indiana point guard Tyrese Haliburton finished with 22 points and 14 assists, but missed a long 3-point attempt at the end of regulation with the teams tied 125-125.

Mavericks 142, Spurs 116

Luka Doncic scored 28 points and dished out 10 assists in three quarters of play and Kyrie Irving added 23 points as Dallas swamped hapless San Antonio to snap a three-game losing streak.

It was just the third game the Mavericks’ new dynamic duo have played together since a trade brought Irving to Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 6, and the Mavs lost the prior two contests. Tim Hardaway Jr. put up 22 points for Dallas, with Christian Wood scoring 16, Justin Holiday hitting for 15, and Reggie Bullock contributing 12, Josh Green 11 and Dwight Powell 10.

San Antonio extended its franchise-record losing streak to 15 games. Malaki Branham led the Spurs with 23 points while Keldon Johnson added 22, Charles Bassey scored 16, Keita Bates-Diop had 15, Zach Collins amassed 13 points and 12 rebounds and Devonte’ Graham threw in 10 points.

Magic 108, Pistons 106

Wendell Carter Jr. closed out a 14-point, 14-rebound performance with a tip-in at the buzzer to elevate host Orlando over Detroit.

Carter’s game-winning basket - initially negated for offensive goaltending before the call was overruled on video review -- came after Paolo Banchero’s driving attempt to break a 106-106 stalemate was unsuccessful.

Banchero finished with 11 points, almost nine fewer than his team-leading season average, on 4-of-13 shooting from the floor. His struggles were reflective of collective shooting woes for the Magic, who hit just 41.1 percent of their field-goal attempts for the game. On the other end of the floor, the Pistons shot 45.7 percent from the floor but committed 21 turnovers.

Raptors 115, Pelicans 110

Pascal Siakam scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter and Toronto held on to defeat visiting New Orleans.

Jakob Poeltl added 21 points and a career-best 18 rebounds for the Raptors, who have won three in a row. O.G. Anunoby returned from a wrist injury to score 12 points, but Toronto was without Fred VanVleet (personal).

Brandon Ingram had 36 points for the Pelicans, who lost for the third time in four games. CJ McCollum added 23 points.

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