Doncic leads Lakers to sixth straight win, Spurs sink Clippers
Luka Doncic scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers claimed their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets on Monday.
A crucial showdown between the third and fourth teams in the Western Conference ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to earn an impressive road victory.
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The win gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable advantage over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for playoff spots in the West.
Doncic was once again instrumental in driving the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort kept the Rockets scoring in check.
LeBron James finished with 18 points and Austin Reaves 15 while Jabari Smith Jr. led Houston’s scoring with 22 points.
“We held them to 92 points, which is pretty impressive for this team. We did a great job defensively,” Doncic said.
“We could have done better, but all that matters is that we won. We have to continue this momentum.”
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The San Antonio Spurs relied on another balanced offensive performance to edge the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 and solidify their hold on second place in the West.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs scorers with 23 points while Victor Wembanyama had 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in another dominant overall performance.
San Antonio has now won 18 of its last 20 games and rallied from a 14-point first-quarter deficit to claim the victory.
“They pushed us in the first quarter and sometimes basketball doesn’t work,” Wembanyama said.
“So we had to get a little naughty.”
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San Antonio improved to 50-18 and is well within sight of the Oklahoma City Thunder (53-15) at the top of the standings.
The Boston Celtics maintained their pursuit of the Detroit Pistons at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 120-112 loss to the visiting Phoenix Suns.
A game that played out as a personal duel between Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Phoenix’s Devin Booker, both men scored 41 points and 40 points, respectively, before the Celtics ultimately pulled out the victory.
Brown was supported by 21 points each from Jayson Tatum and Derrick White while Payton Pritchard once again demonstrated his sharp shooting skills off the bench with 19 points, including 15 three-pointers.
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Boston’s second straight victory left them at 45-23, three and a half games behind leader Detroit (48-19).
Phoenix slipped to 39-29 and is seventh in the Western Conference, just outside the automatic playoff spots.
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