Fireworks in LA as LBJ, AD combine for 53; Irving shines again

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2019 07:20:23 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Anthony Davis had 21 points and seven rebounds during his home debut for the Lakers, and LeBron James had 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in Los Angeles’ 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

LEBRON James

Troy Daniels hit four 3-pointers and scored 15 points for the Lakers, who were impressive in unveiling their revamped lineup.

Along with the offensive fireworks expected from a team boasting Davis and James, Los Angeles forced 23 turnovers by a talented Utah team and won comfortably behind that gritty defense.

Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points for the Jazz, who played without injured newcomer Bojan Bogdanovic.

Davis had already played in a regular-season game at Staples Center in a Lakers uniform while getting wildly cheered – but that happened three days earlier during the Lakers’ loss in the Clippers’ home opener.

The star center is still looking for his flow, but he blocked five shots and contributed steadily on offense, even scoring his first bucket on an alley-oop from James.

Jeff Green had five points while starting in place of Bogdanovic, Utah’s $73 million free agent acquisition. The Jazz beat Oklahoma City in their opener, but didn’t have enough offense to compete with the new-look Lakers and their solid defensive schemes.

The Lakers never trailed after the opening minutes, and they took firm control with a strong third quarter featuring 12 points from James and three 3-pointers from Daniels, the proficient outside shooter acquired specifically to knock down spot-up 3s.

Danny Green also fills that role, and he scored nine points in his Lakers home debut. The veteran also took the microphone before the game and told cheering fans: “I promise we’ll do better than last year.”

NETS TRIUMPH

The Nets, out to make Brooklyn the center of New York City’s NBA universe, edged the Knicks 113-109 Friday, but not before a fourth-quarter dogfight.

Brooklyn’s new star Kyrie Irving didn’t match the 50 points he dropped in a heartbreaking season-opening loss to Minnesota, but his 26 points included a step-back three-pointer with 22.4 seconds to play that gave the Nets a 111-109 lead that they wouldn’t give up.

“Ah man, I just had to get to my spot, make sure my elbow was pointed and, you know, gratefully it went in,” Irving said of the shot that drew comparisons to his game-winner in game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals for Cleveland.

Allonzo Trier’s 22 points helped the Knicks erase a 19-point deficit and take a three-point lead with 3:41 to play.

Irving said his only message to his teammates as the Knicks poured on the pressure was ”stay poised, stay calm.”

Irving ramped up the Big Apple rivalry on Thursday when he said at a promotional event that
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