LEBRON James scored 26 points to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 128-99 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
The Lakers improved to 7-0 on the road for the first time in franchise history.
During the last three games, Los Angeles has trailed for just 11 seconds and led wire-to-wire.
James hit a season-high five 3-pointers, including a pair to fuel an 18-2 run early in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
James scored nine consecutive points during that stretch.
After going 5 of 14 from the floor in the first half, James was much more efficient in the third, hitting both of his 3-point tries and going 4 of 6 from the floor overall to help the Lakers extend their lead.
A bit earlier in the game, it didn’t look like the game would be competitive at all in the second half.
James’ back-to-back 3-pointers kickstarted a 16-0 Lakers run that put Los Angeles up 56-32.
But by halftime, Oklahoma City had closed the deficit to 12, as the Lakers shot 1-for-8 to close the half.
Anthony Davis’ status for the game was questionable after suffering a jammed toe a day earlier in Houston.
But Davis got off to a hot start, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the first quarter.
Montrezl Harrell added 21 off the bench.
Dennis Schroder, playing his first game in Oklahoma City since being traded to the Lakers in the offseason after two seasons with the Thunder, was 4 of 12 for 14 points with five rebounds and five assists.
In other games, it was the Nets 116, Knicks 109; Bucks 110, Pistons 101; Clippers 111, Pelicans 106; Blazers 132, Kings 126; Mavericks 104, Hornets 93; Grizzlies 118, Wolves 107.
Nets 116, Knicks 109
No James Harden, at least for one more game? No Kyrie Irving, for who knows how long? It was no problem for the Brooklyn Nets.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead seven players in double figures for the rapidly retooling Nets, who capped a wild day with a win over the host New York Knicks.
Everyone in uniform except DeAndre Jordan and Chris Chiozza scored at least 10 points for the Nets hours after the team reportedly agreed to acquire Harden from the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster four-team trade.
The trade brings together the only active players to win three consecutive scoring titles. Harden is the NBA’s reigning scoring champ (2017-20) while Durant led the league in points per game from 2009-10 through 2011-12 and added a fourth scoring title in 2013-14.
