D’Angelo Russell scored 26 points as the Los Angeles Lakers produced a dominant defensive display to upset the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 on Monday.
Russell and Anthony Davis (24) combined for 50 points while LeBron James added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in an ultimately comfortable victory for the 17-time NBA champions.
Oklahoma City entered the game as the Western Conference leader and started slow, opening a 12-point lead early in the first quarter.
But stubborn defense and Russell’s hot hand brought the Lakers back into contention, and a strong second quarter – dominating the Thunder 27-18 – gave them a lead they held for the remainder of the contest.
“Early on, they made some shots and we turned the ball over, but we didn’t totally collapse,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
“We kept defending. I told the team at halftime, ‘That’s the best defensive half I’ve seen all season.’
“Kudos to our guys – they stepped up and defended really, really well.”
The Lakers defense held Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 20 points, while Chet Holmgren finished with 15 and Josh Giddey 13.
The loss dropped Oklahoma City (42-19) from first place in the West, with the Minnesota Timberwolves taking first place. The Lakers improved to 34-29 to sit in ninth place.
Elsewhere, Damian Lillard produced a dazzling 41-point performance as the Milwaukee Bucks shrugged off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury absence to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-106.
With Antetokounmpo ruled out just before kickoff with a sore Achilles, and Khris Middleton also injured, Lillard led from the front to help in-form Milwaukee earn a sixth straight victory.
The Clippers seemed to have the measure of their opponents, opening a 15-point lead at one point in the third quarter.
– ‘I adopted him’ –
But Lillard and Bobby Portis caught fire in the fourth as the Bucks outscored the Clippers 40-25 to pull away and seal the victory in front of a fiery Milwaukee crowd.
Lillard finished with four rebounds and four assists to go along with his 41 points, while Portis stepped up with 28 points and 16 rebounds.
Milwaukee improved to 41-21, leaving it in second place in the Eastern Conference behind Boston (48-12).
“We just play together on both sides of the ball,” Lillard said.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers accused some members of his team of being in vacation mode ahead of last month’s All-Star Game midseason break.
But Lillard revealed the Bucks are now reaping the benefits of an outdoor meet that sparked the team’s unbeaten streak.
“Coming out of the break, we had a great team talk, Doc touched on a lot of things, challenged us to do some things differently – and I think we embraced it as a team,” he said. Lillard said.
“Before the break, there were a lot of things we weren’t really committed to doing together. But now I think everyone sees the success of our involvement on both sides.”
The only negative note for the Bucks came with Antetokounmpo’s injury.
The Greek star appeared for a pre-match warm-up but limped off in visible discomfort due to a left Achilles problem while performing shooting drills.
The Clippers saw Paul George and James Harden finish with 29 points each, with Kawhi Leonard adding 16.
Minnesota moved ahead of Oklahoma City atop the West after its 119-114 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Minneapolis.
French international Rudy Gobert led Minnesota’s scoring with 25 points, grabbing 16 rebounds with three blocks.
Anthony Edwards finished with 13 points off the bench on a night where six Minnesota players posted double-digit point totals.
Anfernee Simons was the pick of Portland’s shooters with 34 points, including 5 of 13 from three-point range. Duop Reath made 5 of 6 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points.
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