NBA: LeBron James, Anthony Davis carry Lakers past Thunder
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Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis celebrates after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis had 27 points and 15 rebounds, LeBron James scored 25 and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder’s four-game winning streak with a 112-105 victory Monday night.
D’Angelo Russell had 14 points and seven assists as the Lakers held off the powerhouse Thunder in the fourth quarter for only LA’s sixth victory in 18 games, with two of those wins coming against Oklahoma City.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half while playing through a right knee sprain for Oklahoma City. The Lakers are responsible for two of the Thunder’s four losses in their last 16 games.
LeBron and AD lead the @Lakers to a big-time home W over the #2 in the West, OKC Thunder.
AD: 27 PTS, 15 REB, 5 AST
LeBron: 25 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST pic.twitter.com/KYvWBFH34J— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2024
Jalen Williams scored 25 points, but Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey both struggled offensively to a combined 17 points for the Thunder, who opened a key four-game swing against some of the West’s other top teams. Oklahoma City also faces the Clippers and the conference-leading Timberwolves on its trip.
James returned from his fourth missed game of the season due to injury and scored 17 points in the second half. His driving layup with 8:53 to play staked Los Angeles to the game’s first double-digit lead at 93-82.
The Thunder got within six on Gilgeous-Alexander’s dunk with 2:05 left, but James drove the lane and dished to Davis for a two-handed slam that essentially sealed the victory with 50 seconds to play.
The Lakers are beginning a two-week stretch in which they won’t have to leave Los Angeles, and Davis said last weekend that this six-game sequence will be vital to their hopes of being a playoff contender. They’ve been stumbling since they won the inaugural In-Season Tournament in early December, unable to overcome a series of injuries or to generate consistent tertiary scoring around James and Davis.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams, right, reaches in on Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Cam Reddish sat out with knee swelling, and the Lakers went back to a starting backcourt of Russell and Austin Reaves, who scored 15 points.
Davis’ aggressiveness and Holmgren’s early foul trouble contributed to a 64-44 advantage for the Lakers on points in the paint.
The Thunder and Lakers split two games in Oklahoma City earlier this season.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game one day before a scheduled news conference at the Los Angeles Clippers’ under-construction Intuit Dome in Inglewood, which could be announced as the host of the 2026 NBA All-Star weekend.
NEXT SCHEDULE
Thunder: At Clippers on Tuesday.
Lakers: Host Dallas on Wednesday.
