LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for 63 points — 30 of them in the fourth quarter — as the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Sacramento Kings 131-127 Saturday to improve to 3-0 in the young NBA season.
The Lakers, who led by as many as 15 points on the way to a 64-60 halftime lead, trailed 94-87 heading into the final period.
But they opened the fourth on a 21-0 scoring run that included 16 points from superstar James, the league’s all-time scoring leader now in his 22nd season.
The Lakers twice pushed their lead to 14 points in the fourth but the Kings cut the deficit to two with less than a minute to play.
James found Davis for a three-pointer and Rui Hachimura for a dunk and the Lakers held on for the win.
James finished with a triple-double of 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, while Davis put up 31 points with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double of 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Kings, who had 28 points and 10 assists from De’Aaron Fox and 23 points from DeMar DeRozan.
The Los Angeles Clippers also came through in the clutch as Norman Powell scored 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter of a 109-104 victory over three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Powell sank a 3-pointer with 53.1 remaining to pull the Clippers level at 103-103, then James Harden made four free throws and Powell sank two more in the final 30.1 seconds to deliver the win in Denver.
“Just locking in, being aggressive, being what the team needed me to be,” Powell said. “Taking the shots that came to me.”
Harden finished with 23 points and 16 assists for the Clippers, while Croatian center Ivica Zubac added 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Jokic made a career-best seven 3-pointers on the way to 41 points but the Serbian center missed a late game-tying attempt from beyond the arc.
Powell, a 31-year-old guard who won an NBA title with Toronto in 2019, said the Clippers are confident even with Kawhi Leonard sidelined by a right knee injury.
“Same expectations as always,” Powell said. “The take is that we’ve got enough. We have the belief in ourselves to go out there and compete in games.
“When Kawhi comes back, we’re going to be ready to accept him as we always do and be clicking on all cylinders.”
Celtics rally
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 points as reigning NBA champions Boston rallied late for a 124-118 victory at Detroit.
Cade Cunningham’s layup gave Detroit a 112-106 lead with 5:12 remaining but the Celtics closed the game with an 18-6 scoring run for the triumph, improving to 3-0.
Jrue Holiday made back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Boston level at 112-112 and Tatum’s two free throws with 1:05 remaining put the Celtics ahead to stay at 116-114.
Cunningham pulled the Pistons within 120-118 on a free throw with 11 seconds remaining but Brown and Tatum sank clutch free throws to seal victory and the Pistons dropped their third straight to start the season.
In Phoenix, Kevin Durant scored 31 points to lead the Suns to a 114-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Phoenix withstood a 40-point, 10-rebound performance from Mavs star Luka Doncic and never trailed after a tight first quarter.
Frenchman Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points to spark the host San Antonio Spurs over Houston 109-106.
The Spurs clung to a 100-99 lead before “Wemby” hit two free throws and Jeremy Sochan added a basket to make it 104-99.
Jalen Green’s layup for Houston cut the Spurs lead to 106-104 with 12 seconds to play. San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson made two free throws but Houston’s Fred VanVleet responded with a basket.
Stephon Castle hit a free throw for the Spurs with seven seconds remaining and Green, who led Houston with 29 points, missed a shot at the final buzzer.