NBA: LeBron James, Luka Doncic match triple-doubles as Lakers beat Mavs in OT

By the Associated Press

DALLAS — LeBron James faced the crowd and sidestepped his way up the floor after a punctuating 3-pointer in overtime made possible by Danny Green’s buzzer-beating 3 in regulation.

The Lakers star took an extra peek toward the national TV crew at center court, perhaps to gauge the entertainment value of the first matchup of the 15-time All-Star alongside Anthony Davis against Dallas’ young European pair of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis.

The extra period was anticlimactic — but didn’t really take away from the second half that preceded it.

Davis started overtime with back-to-back dunks after Green’s corner 3, and the Lakers beat the Mavericks 119-110 on Friday night amid matching triple-doubles from James and Doncic, the Slovenian who grew up admiring the four-time MVP.

“You never know who you can inspire along your path,” James said. “For me, playing the game the right way, getting my teammates involved and playing for the purity of the game, I was able to inspire a kid that wasn’t even in America. That’s pretty special.”

James had a season-high 39 points with 16 assists and 10 rebounds, while Doncic finished with 31 points, a career-high 15 assists and 13 boards.

According to the NBA, they became the youngest and oldest players in NBA history with triple-doubles that included at least 30 points and 15 assists, doing so in the same game.

The 20-year-old Doncic, who grew up modeling his game after James, had his 10th career triple-double, extending his record for the most for a player under 21. James, who has 82 for his career, is third on that list with five.

James had nine points in overtime, starting with a three-point play that followed Davis’ dunks for a second 10-0 run going back to regulation — following one that immediately wiped out a 10-point halftime lead to start the third quarter.

The last of Doncic’s assists went to Dorian Finney-Smith for a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation. The Mavericks got a stop, but Dwight Powell missed one of two free throws to keep their lead at three, setting up Green’s tying corner 3 on James’ 14th assist.

The Mavericks had a foul to give when James dribbled inside the 3-point line before finding Green.

“That’s on me,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Our plan in that situation was to foul a guy on the catch in a non-shooting situation. But the fact that we were unable to do it is on me.”

Davis had 31 points and eight rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 16 points and nine boards after a fast start for the 7-foot-3 Latvian that included a crossover dribble 3-pointer in front of Davis in the best test yet of opposing big-name duos for him and Doncic.

Doncic had his triple-double before the end of the third quarter, helping the Mavericks restore all but one point of a 10-point halftime lead after the Lakers put together a 10-0 run coming out of halftime.

“You can’t watch this game and say the NBA isn’t one of the most enjoyable things to watch in the world,” Carlisle said. “We’re not happy about losing. That’s all.”

The Mavericks expanded a nine-point lead to 11 in the first half despite being without Doncic and Porzingis for nearly a full quarter because of foul trouble.

Part of the reason was the season debut of 7-foot-4 (formerly 7-3) Boban Marjanovic, who had four points and seven rebounds along with three fouls in 11 minutes.

Bucks roll past Magic behind Antetokounmpo’s 29 points

It was a pretty typical performance for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Donte DiVincenzo was a bit of a surprise.

Antetokounmpo had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks pounded the Orlando Magic 123-91 on Friday night.

While the reigning NBA MVP was great once again, DiVincenzo scored 14 points in his most extensive action so far this season. He played two minutes in the Bucks’ first four games and had not taken a shot.

DiVincenzo went 4 for 7 from 3-point range. He also contributed three assists and two steals in 17 minutes.

“He hasn’t played all season, and one thing I told him was to stay ready,” Antetokounmpo said. “You’re going to get your opportunity, and he was ready tonight.”

Eric Bledsoe added 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee, which was coming off a 116-105 loss at Boston on Wednesday night. Khris Middleton added 16 points and six rebounds.

The Bucks grabbed control by making nine 3-pointers during a key stretch in the first half. They went 17 for 47 from beyond the arc on the night.

Evan Fournier led Orlando with 19 points. Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Bledsoe, Ersan Ilyasova (two), Sterling Brown, George Hill and DiVincenzo (two) connected from long range during a 32-7 run for the Bucks.

“You could feel things shifting in that first quarter,” DiVincenzo said. “Everybody on our team is so unselfish. We have guys who could get 25 every night, but instead we have a balanced attack and guys getting open looks.”

After making eight of their first nine shots on their way to a 20-7 lead, the Magic were outscored 40-9 over the next 11 minutes, most of it by Milwaukee’s reserves.

“Orlando was doing a lot of things well early, but our bench came in and flipped the script,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “We had really good bench play tonight.”

The Bucks led 79-51 after Middleton scored seven straight points midway through the third quarter.

Milwaukee shot 50.5 percent for the game. The Bucks also had a 57-41 rebound advantage and scored 54 points in the paint.

“They were wide open, wide open … wide open. It wasn’t like they made all these great shots, it was wide open,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “It was an unacceptable effort against a great team and they played well.”

Source: Manila Bulletin