Saturday, August 1, 2020

NBA: Kyle Lowry scores 33 points to lead Toronto Raptors to 11th straight win over Los Angeles Lakers

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Kyle Lowry had 33 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors restarted their season by beating the slow-starting Los Angeles Lakers for the 11th straight time, 107-92 on Saturday night.

OG Anunoby scored 23 points for the Raptors, the second-place team in the Eastern Conference. They haven't lost to Los Angeles since the 2014-2015 season.

Lowry had a strong second half to help turn back a surge by the Lakers, the Western Conference leaders who are 1-1 in the restart. The Lakers' magic number for clinching the top seed in the West remains at one.

Lowry's biggest shot was a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 97-86 lead with 3:01 to play.

"He was vintage Kyle tonight," coach Nick Nurse said. "He was scoring and flying around and taking charges and competing and getting us some critical buckets. He was great."

Lowry was all for a full-speed reentry.

"Nick says he's going to kind of ease us back in and use it as an exhibition," Lowry said. "We've got too many competitive guys that want to go out there and play and hoop and win games, especially against the guys like the Lakers and with the team that's No. 1 in the West. The competitive juices get going."

LeBron James had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Anthony Davis had just 14 points after he scored 34 in a win against the Los Angeles Clippers in their first game back on Thursday night. Kyle Kuzma scored 16.

The Lakers shot a season-low 35.4% from the field.

"I don't think there's anything you can do better," James said. "You execute your offense to get the best shot and we did that tonight. We went 10 for 40 from the 3-point line. I believe a lot of those 40 3s are great looks after getting to the point, knowing what they're going to give up. We just have to step up and knock them down."

James hit consecutive 3-pointers for a 76-72 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Anunoby responded with consecutive 3s for a 78-76 lead. The Raptors continued to pull away and Anunoby made a layup for a 90-83 lead.

With James and Davis struggling, the Raptors jumped to a 13-0 lead behind Anunoby and Lowry before the Lakers got back into it behind their bench.

The Lakers' reserves outscored the Raptors 13-2 in the first quarter and 31-6 in the first half to help Los Angeles to a 44-41 halftime lead. Kuzma had nine points and Alex Caruso seven.

James had seven points and Davis just one in the first half.

The Raptors "did a great job of really making other people beat them," Kuzma said. "I think for most of the game they double-teamed Anthony and LeBron in the post and kind of left a lot of guys open to make some shots. We just didn't hit shots tonight. We got what we wanted, great shots, open shots. It was tough for us to hit 'em."

CLIPPERS 126, PELICANS 103

Paul George made three straight 3-pointers in the opening minutes and scored 28 points for the Los Angeles Clippers in a 126-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Los Angeles broke a franchise record by making 25 of 47 3-pointers, with George making 8 of 11. The Clippers also tied a team record for 3-pointers in a half and fell one short of the NBA record by hitting 16 of 24 in racing to a 77-45 lead.

Los Angeles made its first six 3-pointers to take a 20-6 lead.

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points o help the Clippers bounce back from a 103-101 loss to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night in their first game of the restart.

The Pelicans had a minor scare midway through the first half when rookie Zion Williamson stepped on Reggie Jackson's foot and appeared to slightly roll his right ankle while driving to the basket, ending up on his backside under the basket. He got up with a slight limp and was subbed out, then returned for the start of the second half.

Williamson finished with seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 15 points for New Orleans.

PACERS 127, 76ERS 121

T.J. Warren scored a career-high 53 points, Victor Oladipo added 15 after reversing course on opting out of the NBA restart and Indiana beat Philadelphia.

A sixth-year player acquired from Phoenix in an offseason trade, Warren was 20 of 29 from the field and 9 of 12 from 3-point range in his first game with at least 50 points.

The Pacers took control of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference by breaking a tie with the 76ers and winning the season series. Both teams have clinched playoff spots.

Joel Embiid had 41 points and 21 rebounds for the 76ers. Tobias Harris scored 30 points, and Ben Simmons had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

THUNDER 110, JAZZ 94

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 19 points, Chris Paul added 18 and Oklahoma City rolled past Utah in their first game of the restart.

The teams were to meet on March 11 in Oklahoma City, but everything changed when Utah center Rudy Gobert's COVID-19 test came up positive right before the tip. That night, the NBA announced it would shut down indefinitely.

Steven Adams had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Danilo Gallinari added 15 points and the Thunder shot 53% from the field. Oklahoma City moved within a half-game of the Jazz for fourth place in the Western Conference standings and within 1 1/2 games of Denver for third.

Donovan Mitchell scored 13 points for the Jazz but shot just 5 for 15. Utah shot 39% from the field.

HEAT 125, NUGGETS 104

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo each scored 22 points to help Miami beat Denver in the first restart game for both teams.

Heat center Meyers Leonard stood during the national anthem, saying it was out of respect for the U.S. military, while all the coaches and players around him kneeled. His brother, Bailey Leonard, served two tours in Afghanistan with the Marines. Leonard wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over a jersey that said "Equality."

Kelly Olynyk scored all of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Miami, The Heat shot 56% from the field.

Nikola Jokic and Jerami Grant each scored 19 points for Denver. The Nuggets played without guards Jamal Murray (hamstring), Will Barton (knee) and Gary Harris (hip).



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