NEW ORLEANS — LeBron James had 34 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Anthony Davis’ absence and Zion Williamson’s highest-scoring game to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 122-114 on Sunday night.
Williamson finished with 35 points, but his largely productive and highlight-filled night was marred somewhat by six turnovers.
Kyle Kuzma scored 20, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers up 113-109 with 3:40 to go. The Lakers gradually pulled away after that, aided by James’ 3 with 2:27 left.
Davis, who spent the first seven of his eight seasons with New Orleans, sat out with a sore right knee, one night after playing in the Lakers’ 105-88 loss at Memphis. His injury did not appear too serious; he was on the bench in street clothes and routinely reacted to the action on the court by springing out of his seat and standing on the sideline.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 13 and JaVale McGee asserted himself inside with six blocked shots and eight points, including his layup in the final minute that made it 120-112.
Lonzo Ball had 19 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for New Orleans, and Derrick Favors added 12 points and 14 rebounds. But the Pelicans were done in by poor 3-point shooting, going 7 of 33.
The opening half was a competitive, crowd-pleasing affair in which James scored 19 and Williamson 17.
Moments after Williamson had cut to the hoop for a one-handed stuff, James pulled up from 35 feet for a 3 that tied it at 61.
Caldwell-Pope’s driving finger roll gave Los Angeles a 63-61 edge at halftime, and the Lakers widened their lead with a strong start to the third quarter.
Danny Green hit a 3, Kuzma added a layup, McGee tipped in Kuzma’s missed floater and Kuzma hit two free throws to make it 74-66.
New Orleans began to close the gap again when Williamson spun free from Kuzma for a back-door dunk of Jrue Holiday’s alley-oop pass.
Williamson added free throws and a driving layup before Favors’ dunk and Ball’s 3 pulled the Pelicans back into a tie at 77. The game remained close the rest of the period, which ended with New Orleans holding a 95-93 lead after Caldwell-Pope’s free throws.
BUCKS 93, HORNETS 85
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 20 rebounds and six assists and Milwaukee beat Charlotte for its sixth straight victory.
Brook Lopez added 16 points and seven rebounds for the NBA=leading Bucks. They’ve won 20 of their last 22 games and to improve to 52-8.
Antetokounmpo scored in almost every way imaginable — on pick-and-rolls, fast-break dunks, fadeaway jumpers and from the foul line.
Antetokounmpo finished a rebound short of his career high. The Bucks outrebounded the Hornets 61-47.
Devonte Graham had 17 points for Charlotte.
CLIPPERS 136, 76ERS 130
LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points, Paul George added 24 and Los Angeles beat Philadelphia to extended its winning streak to four.
Reserves Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams also had 24 points. The Clippers — who shot 59.2% from the field — trailed by two at halftime but took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Sixers 38-24.
Shake Milton led Philadelphia with 39 points, hitting seven 3-pointers. The first-year guard had 26 points in the first half, which tied a team season high. Former Clippers forward Tobias Harris had 25 points and Alec Burks 15.
MAVERICKS 111, TIMBERWOLVES 91
MINNEAPOLIS — Kristaps Porzingis had a season-high 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Seth Curry scored 27 points and Dallas rolled past Minnesota with Mavericks star Luka Doncic sitting out with a left thumb sprain.
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19 points to help the Mavericks win for the third time in four games.
D’Angelo Russell had 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Minnesota. The Timberwolves lost for the 20th time in 22 games.
NUGGETS 133, RAPTORS 118
DENVER — Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season to lead Denver past short-handed Toronto.
Jokic has 43 triple-doubles in his short career, completing his latest by feeding Jerami Grant on a dunk that helped the Nuggets the defending champion Raptors their third straight loss.
Grant finished with 16 points,
Toronto played without Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet for a second straight game, but got a career night from OG Anunoby. He had 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting.
WIZARDS 123, WARRIORS 110
SAN FRANCISCO — Bradley Beal had 34 points, eight assists and a season-best five steals and Washington won at Golden State for the first time in six years.
Beal has scored at least 25 points in a franchise-record 18 straight games.
Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points for Golden State. The Warriors have lost nine straight at home.
KINGS 106, PISTONS 100
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — De’Aaron Fox scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Sacramento overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Detroit.
Buddy Hield added 19 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 15 and Harrison Barnes had 10 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento. The Kings have won four of five since the All-Star break.
Christian Wood had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Pistons. They lost point guard Derrick Rose to an apparent ankle injury in the first quarter.