Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Luka Doncic scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets on Monday. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for postseason positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging 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 for this team is pretty awesome. We did a great job defensively,” Doncic said. “We could have done better, but all that matters is that we got the win. We’ve got to keep this going.”
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The San Antonio Spurs relied on another balanced offensive display to edge the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 and cement their grip 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 all-round display. San Antonio have now won 18 of their last 20 games and clawed their way out of a 14-point deficit in the first quarter to take the win.
“They pushed us in the first quarter and sometimes the basketball is not working,” Wembanyama said. “So we had to get nasty a little bit.” San Antonio improved to 50-18 and are firmly in 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 defeat of the visiting Phoenix Suns. A game that unfolded as a high-scoring personal duel between Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Phoenix’s Devin Booker saw both men score 41 points and 40 points respectively before the Celtics finally clinched victory. Brown was backed by 21 points apiece from Jayson Tatum and Derrick White while Payton Pritchard once again demonstrated his sharp-shooting talent from the bench with 19 points, 15 of them coming from three-pointers.
Boston’s second straight victory left them on 45-23, three-and-a-half games behind leaders Detroit (48-19). Phoenix slipped to 39-29 and are seventh in the Western Conference, just outside the automatic playoff places.
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