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Los Angeles Lakers

Luka to Lakers; Davis to Mavs

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Lakers and Mavericks have surprised the NBA world with a midseason trade of All-NBA players, with ESPN reporting early Sunday morning that the teams had completed a trade that will send Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Anthony Davis to Dallas.

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Both players have faced injuries this season.

While the two stars are at the center of the deal, the Lakers will also get Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris while the Mavericks will receive Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick, per the report.

ESPN reported that the Utah Jazz are also involved in the trade and will get Jalen Hood-Schifino and a pair of second-round picks in this year’s draft.

Doncic, 25, has averaged 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 22 games (all starts) this season.

The 31-year-old Davis has put up averages of 25.7 points, 11.9 boards, 3.4 assists and 2.1 blocks across 42 games (all starts).

–Field Level Media

Lakers Honor Kobe and Gianna

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – On the symbolic date of 8/2/24, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled the second of three statues commissioned to honor Kobe Bryant near Crypto.com Arena.

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The new statue depicts Bryant alongside his daughter Gianna. The two were among seven people who died in a Southern California helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Kobe Bryant was 41 when he died; Gianna was 13.

 

 

In the statue, the two are seated, with the father’s arm around the daughter as angel wings spread behind them. Kobe Bryant, identified as “Most Valuable Girl Dad,” says in a quote at the base, “Gianna is a beast. She’s better than I was at her age. She’s got it. Girls are amazing. I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”

The date was chosen because 8 and 24 were the numbers Bryant wore in his Hall of Fame career for the Lakers, and 2 was the number Gianna wore.

The same numbers were in play when the Lakers unveiled the first Bryant statue outside their home venue. The team has yet to announce when the third statue will be ready.

Also on Friday, the locker Bryant used at the arena for his final 13 NBA seasons sold at auction for $2.88 million. ESPN, citing auction house Sotheby’s, reported that the amount was a record for a sports locker.

 

 

The locker had a value estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million, according to Sportico.

–Field Level Media

Christmas Day: Celtics vs. Lakers

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LOS ANGELES – The Boston Celtics can continue their recent torrid shooting toward some familiar rims when they visit the Lakers for a Christmas Day matchup between longtime rivals Monday.

After beating the Sacramento Kings 144-119 on the road Wednesday, the Celtics earned a 145-108 victory in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Saturday. Boston made 47 3-pointers during the two victories, a franchise record for made 3-pointers in a two-game stretch.

The Celtics weren’t even at full strength for the pair of games. Jayson Tatum didn’t play against Sacramento because of a sprained ankle, and Boston didn’t have Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) against the Clippers.

Tatum returned to the lineup Saturday and scored a game-high 30 points against the Clippers, while hitting half of his 10 attempts from 3-point range. Monday’s game will be played in the same downtown Los Angeles arena.

“We just play to our strengths,” Tatum said. “Nine times out of 10, everybody on the floor can space the floor and shoot. No matter if we’re shooting 50 percent or 20 percent, we always want to create the advantage and find the open man.

“I think that’s what makes us so dynamic. Everybody can space the floor, so it’s hard to guard us one-on-one. And if you help, we always got shooters around. It’s all about taking the right shots.”

Saturday’s victory over the Clippers marked the first time the Celtics have scored at least 140 points in back-to-back games since 1966. It was Boston’s seventh win in its last eight games, and the Celtics scored a combined 289 total points in consecutive contests.

“I do like the fact that we’re developing a fast-paced identity and not turning it over,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said when asked about the high-scoring pair of games. “I think at times in the past, we’ve played fast but turned it over. So we’re finding a good balance of pace and execution, which I think is important. But it’s not because of the points. I just liked our execution.”

The Lakers ended a four-game losing streak with a 129-120 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. LeBron James was moved to point guard and scored a season-high 40 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter and 11 in the final 4:29.

James was 13 of 20 from the field and made all of his five 3-point attempts. He also had seven rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.

“To know I can go out and still make game-winning plays and affect the game in multiple ways, and I can still close out a game in the fourth quarter when my team needed it, when they started making a run, it’s always a good feeling, for sure,” James said.

Anthony Davis added 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who also received a 21-point performance off the bench from Rui Hachimura.

James changed positions after point guard D’Angelo Russell was moved into a reserve role. Jarred Vanderbilt was inserted into the Lakers’ starting lineup.

“The result was a win,” Russell said. “For me, that’s all that matters.”

The Lakers entered Saturday’s game with one victory in six games since winning the NBA’s in-season tournament.

“We’ve been kind of struggling,” Hachimura said. “The schedule, the travel, all of that, but we talked about it after the game, the last game in Minnesota, and said the next game has to be a must win. (Anthony Davis) said it.

“We’ve got to keep doing it. We just got to get into a rhythm and the next one’s big too, the Christmas game against the Celtics. We’ve just got to go out there again like we just did and try to get into rhythm.”

–Field Level Media

Lakers Cruise to “In-Season” Cup Final

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LeBron James recorded 30 points and eight assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 133-89 semifinal victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night in Las Vegas to reach the championship game of the NBA’s in-season tournament.

The Lakers will face the Indiana Pacers in Saturday’s title game. The Pacers defeated theMilwaukee Bucks 128-119 in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Austin Reaves had 17 points and seven assists, and Anthony Davis added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the 11th time in their past 15 games.

James made all four of his attempts from beyond the arc while finishing 9 of 12 overall. He played just 23 minutes and sat out the final quarter.

Trey Murphy III scored 14 points and Zion Williamson added 13 for the Pelicans. Herbert Jones added 10 points and seven rebounds as New Orleans lost for the fourth time in its past seven games.

Brandon Ingram had just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Pelicans. New Orleans hit 35.8 percent of its shots and was 7-of-31 from behind the arc.

Taurean Prince scored 15 points, D’Angelo Russell had 14 and Rui Hachimura added 12 for the Lakers, who made 54.7 percent of their shots and 17 of 35 from 3-point range.

James scored 21 points in the first half as Los Angeles led 67-54 at the break.

James scored only three points in the first quarter before scoring 18 in the second.

Lakers Advance Over Suns

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LeBron James scored 31 points with 11 assists, Anthony Davis scored 27 points with 15 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the semifinals of the NBA in-season tournament with a 106-103 victory Tuesday over the visiting Phoenix.

Austin Reaves scored 20 points for the Lakers, who will face the New Orleans Pelicans in one semifinal game Thursday at Las Vegas. The Milwaukee Bucks will face the Indiana Pacers in the other semifinal, also on Thursday at Las Vegas, with the final set for Saturday there.

Los Angeles improved to 5-0 during in-season tournament games.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points for the Suns, who lost for the third time in their past four games after a seven-game winning streak. Phoenix lost two of its five games in the in-season tournament, both against Los Angeles.

Devin Booker and Grayson Allen each scored 21 points for the Suns, with Booker grabbing 11 rebounds. Phoenix head coach Frank Vogel, who was the Lakers’ coach when they won the 2020 NBA title, is 0-3 this season against his former team.

The Suns took a 95-94 lead on a 3-pointer from Durant with 5:45 remaining, but then they went more than four minutes without a field goal as the Lakers took a 102-97 lead with 2:20 remaining after six consecutive points from James.

Durant ended the field-goal drought with a short jumper to bring Phoenix within 102-99 with 1:02 remaining, and Booker brought the Suns within a point at 102-101 on a layup with 30 seconds left.

After missing his first five shots of the fourth quarter, Reaves buried a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left for a 105-101 lead. Durant made a quick layup to get the Suns within 105-103, with Davis making a free throw with 6.6 seconds remaining. Durant missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

The Lakers stormed out to a 33-23 lead after one quarter, assisted by nine Suns turnovers. Los Angeles led 59-47 at halftime after Davis scored 20 points with six rebounds.

After the Suns opened the second half on a 14-0 run, the Lakers’ lead was trimmed to 83-82 through three quarters.

–Field Level Media

Nuggets Take 3-0 Lead Over Lakers

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LOS ANGELES – Denver’s Jamal Murray was the knockout closer in Game 2 and his role changed drastically for Game 3.

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The Denver guard was filling up the basket early and often Saturday night and scored 30 of his 37 points in the first half as the Nuggets maintained control of the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The victory gave Denver a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference finals.

Murray, who scored 23 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2, carried the momentum into Game 3. He had 17 points in the first quarter and added 13 more in the second.

“If a guy has got it going, we’re going to ride that guy,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.

Nikola Jokic scored 15 fourth-quarter points to help Denver take that 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Lakers. The two-time MVP finished with 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The Nuggets are one victory away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. They can clinch Monday night when Game 4 is held in Los Angeles.

“Every game is a must-win I think,” said Jokic, not wanting to engage in any series is over talk. “We came here with a really good mindset and we played really good.”

The Lakers are very aware that no team in NBA history has recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

“We got to get one, just get one at a time,” Los Angeles star LeBron James said. “Just focus on Game 4, that’s all you can think about. Obviously, this game is over with. We had some opportunities and we didn’t come through. … It’s a one-game series for us.”

Of course, stopping Murray will be a big focus for the Lakers in Game 4. And Murray left the floor yelling that his club has five more wins to go.

“Just trying to keep everyone in the moment,” Murray said. “You need 16 wins to win a championship and we have five more to go. The Lakers are in our way and they’re going to do everything they can to fight. They’re not going to lay down and let us beat them on their home floor.”

Anthony Davis recorded 28 points and 18 rebounds for seventh-seeded Los Angeles. James added 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, and Austin Reaves had 23 points and seven rebounds.

Davis expressed similar sentiments of those James conveyed.

“Take it one game at a time,” Davis said of the 3-0 hole. “Come Monday, leave it all on the floor and try to get a win. … That’s all you can really do.”

James was 3 of 9 from 3-point range on Saturday and is 3-for-19 in the series.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points, Bruce Brown added 15 and Michael Porter Jr. registered 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the top-seeded Nuggets. Denver had 30 assists and just six turnovers.

The Nuggets made 50 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 17 of 41 from 3-point range. Murray made five treys while Caldwell-Pope and Porter each made four.

Los Angeles connected on 45.2 percent of its shot attempts and was 10 of 32 from behind the arc. Rui Hachimura added 13 points.

Hachimura made two free throws to give Los Angeles a 94-93 edge with 7:48 left before Denver answered with 13 consecutive points. Jeff Green, Brown and Murray all made 3-pointers, Brown added a tip-in and Jokic converted a layup as Denver took a 12-point lead with 4:50 remaining.

“That was the game,” James said. “We had back-to-back turnovers and they made back-to-back threes and we never got back in rhythm.”

Los Angeles was unable to make a sustained charge. When Porter drained a 3-pointer to make it 117-103 with 1:06 left, the silence in the arena made it clear that the Lakers couldn’t avoid their first home loss of the playoffs.

The Nuggets led 58-55 at halftime. Caldwell-Pope scored 12 points in the third quarter, including a trey that gave the Nuggets an 81-74 lead with two minutes left.

A short time later, James made his first two 3-pointers of the series after missing his first 13. The two treys came in a span of less than 19 seconds and pulled Los Angeles within 83-82 with 25.9 seconds left in the period.

Denver led 84-82 entering the final stanza but the Lakers moved ahead on a 3-pointer by Hachimura 60 seconds into the quarter.

–Field Level Media