James Harden powers Brooklyn Nets past Los Angeles Lakers

James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists and Joe Harris scored 21 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the host Los Angeles Lakers 109-98 on Thursday.

Thursday night’s NBA results

Brooklyn Nets 109 – 98 Los Angeles Lakers

Kyrie Irving contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Nets, who captured their fifth consecutive victory. Reserve Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 15 points while making five of eight 3-point attempts. Harris was six of seven from 3-point range.

Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant (hamstring) missed his third straight contest.

LeBron James had 32 points on 14-of-23 shooting while adding eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, who played without Dennis Schroder (health and safety protocols). They already were without Anthony Davis, who is expected to be sidelined at least two to three weeks due to a calf strain.

Kyle Kuzma contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds and Montrezl Harrell chipped in 10 points for Los Angeles, which has dropped two of its past three contests.

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The Nets’ 3-point shooting played a big role in the outcome. Brooklyn converted 18 of 39 (46.2 percent) from long distance compared to 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) for the Lakers. Overall, the Nets connected on 49.4 percent of their shots compared to 48.2 percent for the Lakers.

Brooklyn, which led 90-74 after three quarters, put the game out of reach midway through the fourth.

The Nets held a 31-24 lead after one quarter and increased the margin in the second. Irving followed his own miss with a basket for a 60-41 advantage with 3:08 left in the second quarter.

However, the Lakers closed the half on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 64-53 at the break.

Overall, Los Angeles committed 16 turnovers to 14 for Brooklyn.

LeBron James is the 3rd player in NBA history to reach 35,000 career points.

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387
2. Karl Malone: 36,928
3. LeBron James: 35,017 pic.twitter.com/Am57wJYP2N

A free throw by James late in the second quarter allowed him to reach 35,000 career points. James, who ended the night with 35,017 points, became just the third NBA player to hit the milestone, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928).

Toronto Raptors 110 – 96 Milwaukee Bucks

Norman Powell and Pascal Siakam both outscored Giannis Antetokounmpo as the visiting Toronto Raptors completed a two-game sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks with a 110-96 victory.

Powell had a season-high-tying 29 points and Siakam added 27, helping Toronto double up on the Bucks after a 124-113 win on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo had 23 points to lead the Bucks, who lost their fifth straight. In a matchup of last season’s top two teams in the Eastern Conference’s regular season, Toronto never trailed in the second half after entering halftime with a 58-41 lead.

Milwaukee got no closer than 12 in the third period and 10 in the fourth as the Raptors kept last year’s regular-season champions in the East at arm’s length over the final 24 minutes.

Powell’s 29 points, which matched his total Feb. 8 at Memphis, came on 9-for-12 shooting overall and 4-for-7 on 3-point attempts. The Raptors outscored the Bucks 36-30 on 3-pointers.

Meanwhile, Siakam reached 20 points for the fifth time in his past six games.

He contributed 23 points on Tuesday in the series-opening win over the Bucks. Fred VanVleet added 17 points and a team-high eight assists for the Raptors, who won for the seventh time in their past 10 games. OG Anunoby added 10 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds.

Antetokounmpo’s point total was his lowest since a 21-point output against Indiana on February 3, eight games ago. He added a game-high 12 rebounds and eight assists.

He had 34 points in Milwaukee’s Tuesday loss.

Donte DiVincenzo had 14 points, Khris Middleton 13, Brook Lopez 12 and Bryn Forbes 11 for the Bucks, whose back-to-back losses opened an eight-game homestand.

The Raptors built a 17-point lead by halftime after trailing for much of the first quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Powell late in the first period gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished.

Powell shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the half, during which Toronto led by as many as 20. The Raptors went 9-for-18 from beyond the arc in the first two periods, the Bucks 5-for-17.

Miami Heat 118 – 110 Sacramento Kings

Tyler Herro scored 27 points, Kelly Olynyk had a season-best 22 points and Duncan Robinson added 20 as the visiting Miami Heat registered a 118-110 victory over the slumping Sacramento Kings.

Jimmy Butler recorded 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds to become the first player in Heat history with three consecutive triple-doubles. He had become the first Miami player with two straight one night earlier against the Golden State Warriors.

Bam Adebayo also had a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as the Heat halted a three-game losing streak. Kendrick Nunn added 16 points for Miami.

Nemanja Bjelica scored a season-high 25 points and also collected eight rebounds for the Kings, who lost their season-worst fifth straight game to conclude a winless homestand of the same length. Marvin Bagley III added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and DaQuan Jeffries went 5-for-5 from 3-point range while scoring a career-best 17 points.

De’Aaron Fox contributed 11 points and 10 assists for Sacramento, and Cory Joseph scored 10 points.

It was the second straight game in which the Heat never trailed in regulation.

One night earlier, Miami led by 14 with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter before collapsing and eventually losing 120-112 in overtime to the Warriors. Miami, which led by as many as 23 points on Thursday, shot 51.6 percent from the field and was 12 of 34 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range.

The Kings shot 46.2 percent from the floor and hit 15 of 41 (36.6 percent) from behind the arc.

The Heat led 57-43 at halftime and increased the lead over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter. The advantage topped out at 74-51 after Nunn knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:54 remaining in the stanza.

The Kings made a strong run and Bagley scored the final five points of the period to cut the Heat’s advantage to 89-79.

However, Miami exploded on an 11-2 run to open the fourth quarter with Robinson’s 3-pointer making it 100-81 with 9:43 left.

Sacramento crept within 14 points before the Heat scored six straight. The burst was capped by Andre Iguodala’s dunk, which gave Miami a 111-91 lead with 4:50 left.

The Kings later narrowed the gap by scoring the game’s final eight points.

Miami scored the first eight points of the game en route to holding a 14-point lead at the break. Herro had 14 first-half points for the Heat while Bjelica had 13 for the Kings.

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