LEBRON James capped a season-best, 56-point performance with a dunk during a late 8-0 run as the Los Angeles Lakers survived a frantic finish to outlast the visiting Golden State Warriors 124-116 on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).
The points were the most James has scored as a member of the Lakers, while his 50-point game was the 13th of his career. His previous high since joining Los Angeles had been 51 points at Miami in 2018.
In matching the third-highest scoring game of his career, James shot 19-for-31 from the field and 6-for-11 on 3-pointers. He was even hot at the free-throw line, finishing 12-for-13, and also found time for a game-high-tying 10 rebounds. James’ career-high is 61 points for Miami against the Charlotte Hornets in 2014.
Russell Westbrook finished with 20 points for the Lakers, who were coming off a 21-point shellacking at the hands of the rival Clippers two nights earlier. Steph Curry had 30 points for Golden State, which has lost eight of its last 10 games to fall into third place in the Western Conference for the first time this season.
In other games, it was the Heat 99, Sixers 82; Wolves 135, Blazers 121; Mavs 114, Kings 113; Hornets 123, Spurs 117; and Grizzlies 124, Magic 96.
Heat 99, Sixers 82
Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler scored 21 points each as host Miami cooled off Philadelphia.
Butler (left big toe) and teammate P.J. Tucker (left knee) returned after missing one game each due to injury. Tucker scored two points. For Miami, starting point guard Kyle Lowry missed another game due to personal reasons. He has missed 12 of the past 21 games.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 22 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs. The Sixers, who played without star guard James Harden (left hamstring injury), had their five-game win streak snapped. They had averaged 125.8 points during their streak. — Field Level Media
