The Los Angeles Lakers will enter the year 2020 on a high. They made sure they’d be alone atop the NBA Western Conference heading into the New Year after a convincing home win over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
LeBron James and co. got their payback on the Mavs, who snapped the Lakers’ 10-game winning streak the last time they visited LA.
Meanwhile, SBOBET NBA fans also got to witness a couple of young stars in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lonzo Ball, and Michael Porter Jr. put up some big games to help their respective teams to victory.
Oklahoma City Thunder 98-97 Toronto Raptors
The shorthanded Raptors pulled off a shock win on the road against the Boston Celtics, but they fell just short against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back.
Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet paced the Raptors with 20 points apiece. But with Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell, and Marc Gasol still out, they lacked the firepower to put the Thunder away.
Thunder guard and Toronto native Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the star of the show as he tied a career-high with 32 points, which included the game-winning basket with 36 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, Chris Paul had a great game with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists for the Thunder
The Thunder have now won six of their last seven games, which has seen them climb up to seventh in the Western Conference standings.
Houston Rockets 112-127 New Orleans Pelicans
The NBA 2019 odds definitely were not favouring the Rockets, who were without their three best players — James Harden (toe sprain), Russell Westbrook (rest), and Clint Capela (heel contusion) — on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans.
But the Rockets were surprisingly up by seven at the start of the fourth quarter. However, they were outscored 41-19 in the final 12 minutes as they lost by 15.
Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball had his best game in some time as he had a season-high 27 points — including a career-high seven 3-pointers — with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Brandon Ingram also finished with 27 points while Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore each had 25.
Danuel House and Isaiah Hartenstein had 22 and 19 points, respectively, in rare starts for Houston. Eric Gordon also had 20 points in 22 minutes as he played his first game since undergoing knee surgery last month.
The Pelicans, who pulled off a Christmas Day surprise against the Nuggets, have seen their NBA 2019 results improve dramatically. They have now won four games in a row and five of their last six.
Charlotte Hornets 104-117 Memphis Grizzlies
Charlotte’s current losing skid continues. The Hornets dropped their fifth game in a row as they were mauled by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Malik Monk was the top scorer for the Hornets as he had 18 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Devonte Graham continued his month-long shooting slump. He finished with 16 points and 10 assists but shot just 5-of-18 from the field. Graham shot a mere 34 per cent for the entire month of December, but he still hit 38 per cent of his 3-pointers.
The Grizzlies had a balanced attack with five players scoring at least 14 points. Dillon Brooks led the way with 20 points in just 23 minutes. They didn’t even need much production from rookie point guard Ja Morant, who finished with a season-low six points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Sacramento Kings 115-120 Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets nearly threw away a home win as they allowed the Kings to claw their way back from a 14-point deficit with less than six minutes remaining. But they held on to pick up their ninth victory in the last 10 games.
With Paul Millsap still ailing with a knee injury, Michael Porter Jr. got the first start of his young career, and he delivered with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Will Barton, who was starting for the injured Gary Harris, also had 19, while five other Nuggets finished in double figures.
The Kings’ Nemanja Bjelica had a team-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Their starting backcourt of Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox also combined for 38 points and 21 assists.
Dallas Mavericks 95-108 Los Angeles Lakers
The last time the Lakers and Mavericks met a few weeks ago, Luka Doncic and crew ended LA’s 10-game winning streak. This time around, though, Anthony Davis and LeBron James got their revenge as they blew Dallas out at home.
With James still dealing with a groin injury, Davis led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds. The previously red-hot Kyle Kuzma cooled off significantly as he finished scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting, but Dwight Howard and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope picked up the slack as they combined for 34 points off the bench.
For Dallas, Doncic didn’t have his magic going as he finished with just 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting and 0-of-6 on 3-pointers.
And there’s more bad news for the Mavs as Tim Hardaway Jr. left the game early after suffering a hamstring injury. Hardaway has been a reliable third scorer for the Mavs; he was averaging close to 16 points per game in December.
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