PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 33 points, Kevin Durant added 30 and the Phoenix Suns rallied to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 109-105 on Monday night (Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, PH time).
The Lakers took an 83-76 advantage into the fourth, but couldn’t hold on, suffering their first loss of the season after winning three in a row. Durant made back-to-back jumpers to give the Suns a 105-101 lead with 2:17 left.
LeBron James responded with a 3-pointer with 1:58 left to cut the margin to 105-104, but the Lakers never regained the lead. James finished with 11 points, narrowly extending his NBA-record streak of at least 10 points in a game to 1,226.
The Suns bounced back from an early 18-point deficit to get the win. The Lakers beat the Suns 123-116 on Friday at home after climbing out of an early 22-point hole.
Austin Reaves hit a 3-pointer with 5:16 left in the first quarter to give the Lakers a 26-8 lead, but the Suns rallied to take a 50-48 lead by halftime. L.A.’s Anthony Davis scored 20 points before the break on 9-of-14 shooting. He finished with 29.
The most impressive part of L.A.’s early burst was that James didn’t even take a shot as the team built an 18-point lead. Davis continues to excel as the team’s primary offensive option, shooting 12 for 24 and adding 15 rebounds. James had a tough night, shooting just 3 of 14 from the field.
It was a rough game for starting center Jusuf Nurkic, who scored just two points in 15 minutes. He was coming off his best game of the season — an 18-point, 14-rebound effort in Saturday’s win over the Mavericks.
Phoenix’s Royce O’Neale hit a crucial 15-foot floater to give the Suns a 107-104 lead with 1:25 left.
There were six ties and 14 lead changes in the game.
Kings 111, Blazers 98 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and surpassed 10,000 for his career, DeMar DeRozan added 23 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98 for their first win of the season.
Fox became the fifth player in franchise history to reach the 10,000 mark when he made a 3-pointer in the third quarter. The Kings never trailed, expanding a 60-58 lead midway through the third quarter to 26 points in the fourth.
DeAndre Ayton had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, joining Bill Walton as the only players in franchise history to start a season with four straight double-doubles.
DeRozan had 19 points at the half, making nine of 10 free throws and hitting a contested jumper at the buzzer to give the Kings a 51-43 lead.
Sacramento made 23 of its 25 free throw attempts.
Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings and Kevin Huerter added 18 points.
The Blazers had shot 39 percent from 3-point range over their last two games and coach Chauncey Billups praised his team before the game for creating good drive-and-kick looks. But Portland, the league’s worst 3-point shooting team last season, was just four of 22 from deep on Monday.
The Kings lost their first two games by a combined six points.
After a sluggish first half, the Kings closed the third quarter on a 29-13 run to take an 18-point lead into the fourth. Malik Monk and Sabonis combined for a 9-0 spurt during that stretch.
The Kings held the Blazers without a fast-break point until late in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks outlast the Utah Jazz 110-102, Houston Rockets beat San Antonio Spurs 106-101, Orlando Magic beat Indiana Pacers 119-115, Washington Wizards won over Atlanta Hawks 121-119, Miami Heat beat Detroit Pistons 106-98, Denver Nuggets beat Toronto Raptors 127-125, Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee Bucks 119-108, Cleveland Cavaliers rallied past New York Knicks 110-104 and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 126-123. / AP