Kyle Kuzma’s 3-pointer, 0.4 seconds ahead, brought the Los Angeles Lakers to a 124-121 win over the Denver Nuggets near Orlando on Monday night.
August 10, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Kyle Kuzma (0) of the Los Angeles Lakers attempts to beat PJ Dozier (35) of Denver Nuggets on a ride to the basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday August 10, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida escape. in the AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis / Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James had 29 points and 12 assists for the Lakers, who suffered a three-game loss. Anthony Davis finished with 27 points and Kuzma contributed 25.
Reserve guard PJ Dozier had 18 points to lead the nuggets, which had eight players hitting double digits. Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points on 6 out of 6, including 3 out of 3 on 3 pointers. Jamal Murray had 14 points, Paul Millsap 13 and Nikola Jokic 12 for Denver.
The Nuggets rested their starters for much of the fourth quarter, and the loss left them 1 1/2 games behind by the Los Angeles Clippers for number 2 in the Western Conference with two games left. The two teams will meet on Wednesday.
Toronto Raptors 114 – Milwaukee Bucks 106
Chris Boucher had the top 25 points of his career with 11 rebounds and Toronto beat Milwaukee for the first time that season as both teams played without key players.
Matt Thomas added the best 22 points of his career to the Raptors and Norman Powell had 21 points and eight rebounds. Pascal Siakam added 14 points for Toronto.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points for Milwaukee, Khris Middleton 17 and George Hill 14.
Phoenix Suns 128 – Oklahoma City Thunder 101
Devin Booker scored 35 points and Phoenix continued its surprising unbeaten run through the NBA bubble, passing Oklahoma City.
Booker, who missed the fourth quarter, scored his 90th 30-point game of his career and joined Sun’s legend Walter Davis for the most 30-point games in franchise history. Mikal Bridges and rookie Cameron Johnson each added 18 points for the Suns, who won all six seeding games in the bubble and stay in the middle of the race for a postseason berth.
Darius Bazley’s 22 points and 10 rebounds led the Thunder. Oklahoma City, which lost a 15-point lead in the first half, has already secured a place in the playoffs and is 3-3 in the bubble.
Dallas Mavericks 122 – Utah Jazz 114
Tim Hardaway Jr. led Dallas with 27 points and Seth Curry added 22 to lead the Mavericks to a victory over Utah.
Boban Marjanovic added 20 points and nine rebounds and JJ Barea threw in 18 for the Mavericks, who were bouncing off a 22-point deficit.
Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points to lead Utah. Rayjon Tucker hit a career high of 17 points while Emmanuel Mudiay scored 14 points and Georges Niang scored 13 points for the Jazz, who took a late double-digit lead for a second straight game.
Miami Heat 114 – Indiana Pacers 92
Jimmy Butler, who had returned after an absence of three injuries, had game highs with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals to lead Miami past Indiana to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Butler, who also had five assists in 29 minutes, was out with a sore right foot. The teams were tied at halftime, but the Heat resulted in an explosive third quarter by up to 18 points and crossed from there to cool Pacer’s star TJ Warren on the way.
Warren started as the league’s top scorer at the restart on Monday, averaging an impressive 34.8 points on 60.5 percent from the ground and 55.6 percent on 3-point attempts. However, Miami kept him at 12 points in 5v14 shooting, including 2v6 in 3-point attempts. Victor Oladipo led Indiana with 14 points.
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