LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored his 39,000th career point, finishing with 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers completed the NBA’s in-season group stage unbeaten with a 131-99 victory. Tuesday night’s win over the Utah Jazz.
Anthony Davis had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who are likely to host the quarterfinals early next month to begin the knockout stages of the league’s first in-season tournament.
The 38-year-old James became the first player in league history to break 39,000 points.
D’Angelo Russell had 20 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who led by 30 points in the third quarter and eliminated both superstars for good before the start of the fourth quarter.
John Collins scored 15 points and Omer Yurtseven scored a season-high 18 points for the Jazz, who have lost seven of their past nine games.
Cavaliers 122, 76ers 119, overtime
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Darius Garland scored 32 points and Jarrett Allen scored 26 to help short-handed Cleveland beat Philadelphia in overtime in the NBA midseason championship.
Despite missing three rotation players due to injuries in Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert and Isaac Okoro, the Cavaliers still have a chance to compete for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland had six players score in double figures. The Cavaliers dominated the paint and rebounded, outrebounding the 76ers 61-53 and outscoring the paint 68-52.
Joel Embiid scored 32 points and Tyrese Maxey added 30 for the 76ers, who were eliminated from tournament contention.
Pacers 157, Hawks 152
ATLANTA (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton scored 37 points, Buddy Hield hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute and Indiana beat Atlanta in the NBA’s highest-scoring game of the season. , locking in a spot in the quarterfinals of the NBA in-season tournament.
Hield’s jumper from the left wing broke the 152-all tie with 52 seconds left. On the Hawks’ next possession, Dejounte Murray was called for an offensive foul on a 3-point attempt, then missed a tough layup after an Indiana turnover with eight seconds left. Hield made a layup at the buzzer.
Trae Young scored a Hawks-high 38 points and 8 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting. Murray scored 28 points.
The Pacers lead 3-0 in Eastern Conference Group A with one game remaining in the group stage.
Magic 126, Raptors 107
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 25 points, Jalen Suggs added 18 and Orlando beat the Toronto Raptors in the NBA in-season tournament team, winning four consecutive games.
Cole Anthony came off the bench to score 15 points and 10 assists to help the Magic win for the second time in three tournament games.
Dennis Schroeder of the Raptors scored 24 points, Pascal Siakam scored 16 points and 8 assists, shooting 50.7% from the field, 14 of 28 three-pointers, but made 23 turnovers.
Toronto center Jakob Poeltl ranked second in the league in field goal percentage in this game (0.699) and had 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out and leaving the game.
Suns 120, Trail Blazers 107
PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 31 points to move past Elvin Hayes into 11th place all-time and Phoenix beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the in-season championship game.
Durant needed 14 points in his 1,000th NBA game to pass Hayes, who has 27,313 career points. He accomplished that goal on 6-for-6 shooting in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer and a free throw.
Devin Booker scored 28 points for the Suns, who have won their fourth straight game and improved to 2-1 in Western Conference Group A.
DeAndre Ayton scored 12 points in the first quarter and ended up with 18 points and a team-high 8 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who suffered their eighth consecutive loss.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba