LeBron James delivers win for Lakers with another ‘performance’ against Brooks

One month after his 39th birthday, “King James” continued to wow the basketball world over the weekend, scoring 35 points against the Trail Blazers on Friday.

The forward once again carries the weight of the Lakers, with the added motivation of reuniting with Dillon Brooks, who publicly challenged James to “get old” last postseason, but failed.

That time, the Lakers ruthlessly knocked the Memphis Grizzlies out of the playoffs, and Brooks was active in the playoffs at the time, and this Sunday, he did it again with 37 points (14-of-19 shooting) and 6 rebounds. performance that ruined the defender’s night. and 8 assists.

The forward made some taunts to Brooks on several shots, making a “he’s too short to guard him” gesture and gave him a little push in the third quarter, which resulted in a technical foul.

As one of the main “villains” in the league, Brooks had an outstanding performance of 24 points and 6 three-pointers, but he could not prevent James from killing the game for the home team at the last minute.

With teammate Anthony Davis (27 points, 10 rebounds) fouled out with a minute left, James assisted Austin Reeves for a key 3-pointer and then stopped Alperon Sengon ( 23 points and 10 points) led the Houston team to comeback.

With the two sides tied at 104, James was fouled with 1.9 seconds left in the game. After missing the first goal, he did not lose his cool and scored the second goal, winning the past six games for the Lakers. fifth win in three games.

Brooks “was a great competitor,” James later said. “That’s competition, I love it, I need it.”

Another exciting matchup took place in Utah, where the Phoenix Suns defeated the Jazz 140-137 in two overtimes, once again thanks to their leader Kevin Durant.

The forward had key performances in both overtime periods, finishing with 39 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.

In the first “Durantula” game, the Suns took a three-point lead with 35.6 seconds left to lead by five points, similar to Phoenix’s victory in the same situation on Friday.

The Jazz sent the game into another overtime on the final play when rookie Keyonte George missed a shot, but Collin Sexton grabbed the rebound and scored in the air.

Durant re-entered the game in the second overtime, scoring eight of the Suns’ 13 points, and Lauri Markkanen blocked a 3-pointer in the last second to score the Jazz. Highest 38 points and 17 rebounds.

In another nine-game series on Sunday, Cameroonian Joel Embiid had 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 121-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

The 76ers have put pressure on the Celtics since James Harden moved to the Los Angeles Clippers, but Boston defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 102-100 to maintain first place in the Eastern Conference.

Grizzlies Spaniard Santi Aldama had his best performance in the NBA, scoring 28 points, 6 three-pointers, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.

The current champion Denver Nuggets lost for the third time in their last four games, this time at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-109.

Serbian center Nikola Jokic was limited by foul trouble and finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

In Portland, the Trail Blazers were defeated by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who now swept the Warriors with a commanding 134-91 victory after defeating them in overtime the day before.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 points) and Chet Holmgren (16 points) led a team that led by 47 points and finished with a 60.5 shooting percentage (49-81). %, three-point shooting percentage was 61.1% (22-36), and free throw shooting percentage was 100% (14-14).

– Sunday NBA game results:

Brooklyn Nets-Philadelphia 76ers 99-121

Toronto Raptors-Detroit Pistons 142-113

Indiana Pacers-Orlando Magic 116-128

Cleveland Cavaliers – Denver Nuggets 121-109

Dallas Mavericks-Sacramento Kings 113-129

Memphis Grizzlies – Boston Celtics 100-102

Utah Jazz-Phoenix Suns 137-140 (double overtime)

Portland Trail Blazers-Oklahoma City Thunder 91-134

Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets 105-104

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