Field Level Media
Nov 22, 2019
Anthony Davis scored 33 points, including a four-point play late in the fourth quarter, and LeBron James added 23 points and 14 assists as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 130-127 on Friday.
It was the Lakers' second victory over the Thunder in a span of three days, as they earned a tightly contested 112-107 decision Tuesday at Los Angeles.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points, and Danny Green added 14 as the Lakers won their sixth consecutive game and earned a 13th victory in their past 14 contests.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and Steven Adams added 22 for the Thunder, who lost its third consecutive game and fell for the fifth time in their past six games. Chris Paul added 18 points and seven assists for Oklahoma City, which tied a season high in points.
James has delivered double-digit assists in each of his past seven games, and he leads the league with an average of 11.3 assists per game. Davis was also in the giving mood. His assist total was two short of his career high, and he also had 11 rebounds. The Lakers had a 45-37 rebounding advantage.
Paul made a layup with 11 seconds remaining to get the Thunder to within 126-125 before Anthony made a pair of free throws to put the Lakers up by three with 8.1 seconds remaining.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored inside with 4.2 seconds to go before two more free throws from Davis gave the Lakers another three-point lead. James then stole the Thunder's inbound pass to end the game.
Lakers guard Rajon Rondo notched his 7,000th career assist in the first half, but he was ejected with 10:20 remaining in the game when he earned his second technical for a flagrant-2 foul when he lifted his right leg into the groin area of Thunder guard Dennis Schroder.
On a night short on defense, both teams took advantage. The Lakers shot 51.1 percent from the field and 54.8 percent from 3-point range. The Thunder shot 52.7 percent from the field.
Known for their defense, the Lakers entered holding their opponents to 42.7 percent on the season, sixth best in the NBA.
--Field Level Media