Lakers rout Thunder 126-99 behind Doncic’s 30 points
Luka Doncic (77), de los Lakers de Los Ángeles, se prepara para tirar a la canasta frente a Alex Caruso (9), del Thunder de Oklahoma City, durante la primera mitad del juego de baloncesto de la NBA, el domingo 6 de abril de 2025, en Oklahoma City. (AP Foto/Nate Billings)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 30 points and the Los Angeles Lakers routed the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 126-99 on Sunday.
Austin Reaves scored 20 points and LeBron James added 19 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who have won four of five.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points and Jalen Williams added 16 for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City remained two games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the race for the league’s best record with five games to play. Instead of closing in on the top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, the Thunder lost consecutive games for just the second time this season.
The teams will meet again Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers led 42-32 after one quarter.
Doncic drove to the hoop before firing a two-handed pass behind his head to an open Gabe Vincent, who drained the 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 64-42 lead. The Lakers led 78-56 at halftime after making a franchise record 15 3-pointers in the first half. It was the most points Oklahoma City has given up in any half this season. Doncic led the way with 22 points and hit five 3-pointers, with most being well contested.
Doncic was fouled as he made a circus layup and the free throw pushed the Lakers’ lead to 93-67 in the third. The Lakers led 103-77 at the end of the period.
BULLS 132, HORNETS 117
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Coby White scored 37 points, shooting 6 of 8 from 3-point range, Josh Giddey added 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and Chicago rolled past Charlotte for their third straight win.
Nikola Vucevic contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who entered one game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
Mark Williams had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost 10 of 12 games. K.J. Simpson and Jusuf Nurkic each had 18 points.
White continued to have success in Charlotte, a few hours from where he grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and later played college basketball for the Tar Heels. In his last four games against the Hornets at the Spectrum Center, White has averaged 30.5 points.
He finished 12 of 16 from the field and had five assists.
RAPTORS 120, NETS 109
NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie Jonathan Mogbo tied his career highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds as Toronto beat Brookyn.
Mogbo also had a season-high seven assists for the Raptors. Ochai Agbaji added 15 points as Toronto snapped a three-game skid. RJ Barrett and AJ Lawson each had 13, Cole Swider and Jamison Battle each had 12 and Jared Rhoden 10. Jamal Shead finished with a career-high 12 assists to go with nine points.
Toronto used its 40th different starting lineup this season.
Reece Beekman led eight Nets in double figures with 14 points and also had five assists and three steals. Keon Johnson added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Dariq Whitehead, Trendon Watford, Drew Timme and Maxwell Lewis also had 13 points apiece. Tosan Evbuomwan had 12 and Ziaire Williams 11.
Battle had all of his points in the first half, while Mogbo scored 11 in the second half for Toronto.
CELTICS 124, WIZARDS 90
BOSTON (AP) — Luke Kornet scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds, Al Horford had 11 points with 10 boards and Boston ran away from undermanned Washington.
Derrick White added 19 points for Boston, making five of the team’s 24 3-pointers. The Celtics had a season-high 62 rebounds.
Justin Champagnie scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and Alex Sarr scored 16 for the Wizards.
Boston scored the game’s first eight points. The defending NBA champions led by 16 after one quarter, 21 after two and took a 100-64 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.
Of the Boston starters, only Kornet – who was only in the opening lineup because Kristaps Porzingis rested – saw the floor in the fourth quarter.
KINGS 120, CAVALIERS 113
CLEVELAND (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 37 points, including 11 in the decisive fourth quarter, and Sacramento remained in position for a play-in spot with a victory over Cleveland.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Domantas Sabonis added 27 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, who moved into ninth place in the Western Conference with their second straight victory.
Ty Jerome led Cleveland with 20 points and Donovan Mitchell added 19. Jerome saw his first action since March 25 after he had missed five games due to left knee tendinitis.
The Cavaliers had a three-game winning streak snapped and will have to wait at least one more game to wrap up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They dropped to 62-16.
Sacramento trailed 106-105 with five minutes remaining before taking control of the game with a 13-5 run.
TRAIL BLAZERS 120, SPURS 109
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Toumani Camara had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Portland held off a late rally by San Antonio for a victory.
Both teams were mathematically alive for a play-in spot going into the game, but were eliminated by Sacramento’s 120-113 victory over Cleveland.
Stephon Castle finished with 22 points for the Spurs.
The Spurs trailed for most of the game, but Chris Paul’s layup and free throw got San Antonio within 108-102 before Camara made a 3-pointer to end the threat.
The possibility of making the playoffs after a three-year drought was enough to keep Portland going down the final stretch.
HAWKS 147, JAZZ 134
ATLANTA (AP) — Onyeka Okongwu had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Trae Young added 23 points and 15 assists and Atlanta beat Utah, extending its losing streak to nine games.
Caris LeVert scored 21, Dyson Daniels 19 and Vit Krejci made five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the Hawks, who never trailed.
Young set up Okongwu for a layup and then fed Terance Mann for a three-point play to spark a 9-0 run that made it 131-114 when Mann threw down a put-back dunk with 7:54 to play.
Keyonte George led the Jazz with a career-high 35 points, including seven 3s. Collin Sexton added 27 points and Isaiah Collier scored 17 with 12 assists. Collier’s 446 assists this season are the most by a rookie since Ja Morant had 488 in the 2019-20 season.
KNICKS 112, SUNS 98
NEW YORK (AP) — OG Anunoby scored 19 of his 32 points in a perfect third quarter to keep up the best scoring stretch of his career, even with Jalen Brunson returning to New York’s lineup, as they beat Phoenix.
Brunson had 15 points and six assists after missing 15 games with a sprained right ankle that he sustained exactly a month earlier. The Knicks didn’t need much from their All-Star guard, especially while Anunoby was going 7 for 7 in the third quarter, 5 for 5 from 3-point range.
The Knicks improved to 50-28, giving them consecutive 50-win seasons for the first time since having four in a row from 1991-92 through 1994-95. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Mikal Bridges scored 22 points against his former team.
Devin Booker scored 40 points for the Suns, who have lost six straight after a three-game road trip in which they played without Kevin Durant because of a sprained left ankle.
PACERS 125, NUGGETS 120
DENVER (AP) — Obi Toppin scored 22 points in his second start of the season and Indiana overcame the absence of Pascal Siakam to hand reeling Denver its fourth consecutive loss.
Myles Turner’s 24 points led the Pacers, who overcame a 13-point first-half deficit and an off-night by Tyrese Haliburton, whose nine points on eight shots were less than half his scoring average.
The Nuggets lost their fourth straight despite Nikola Jokic’s 41 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists and a career-high 30 points from Christian Braun.
Jokic was charged with a crucial backcourt turnover with the Nuggets trailing 122-120 with 15 seconds remaining but it was Braun who misread the dribble-handoff from Jokic and caused the turnover just as Jokic was passing to Russell Westbrook.(backslash)
BUCKS 111, PELICANS 107
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-high 29 points, and Milwaukee improved its hold on fifth place in the Eastern Conference by defeating New Orleans.
Milwaukee rested Giannis Antetokounmpo after he played 43 minutes — and had 36 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists — in a 121-115 overtime victory at Miami on Saturday night.
Brook Lopez had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks (44-34), who won their fourth straight, and took a full game lead on idle Detroit (43-35).
New Orleans was without four starters, and usual reserves for both clubs seized chances to play more.
Milwaukee’s Kevin Porter Jr., who had 24 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in Miami, got the start in New Orleans and scored 20 points. Ryan Rollins added 14 points and 10 assists.
Antonio Reeves scored 23 and fellow rookie Yves Missi had 18 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which lost its third straight. Second-year pro Lester Quinones, playing in just his ninth NBA game this season, scored 17 points.
WARRIORS 106, ROCKETS 96
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 19 points and 14 rebounds, Dillon Brooks scored 24 points and Houston snapped Golden State’s five-game winning streak with a victory in a matchup of Western Conference powers.
Stephen Curry was held to three points on 1-for-10 shooting — missing seven of eight 3-pointers — for his lowest total this season in a game he was healthy. Curry scored two points Dec. 19 at Memphis, but suffered a pelvic contusion in a hard fall.
Jalen Green scored 21 points and Jabari Smith Jr. tested his right ankle sprain before the game and came off the bench to score 16 points for Houston, currently ranked second in the West standings with three games to go.
Buddy Hield had 20 points and Brandin Podziemski 19 points to lead the Warriors.