DALLAS — Cooper Flagg scored 45 points and the Dallas Mavericks ended their longest home losing streak in 32 years at 14 games with a 134-128 victory over the depleted Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
LeBron James had 30 points and 15 assists for the playoff-bound Lakers, who led for just 13 seconds in the opening minutes of their first game since injuries sidelined Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the rest of the regular season.
Doncic, the NBA scoring leader, has a left hamstring strain, and Reaves, LA's No. 2 scorer, is out with a left oblique strain. Both were injured in a blowout loss at Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Flagg, who had nine assists and eight rebounds, recorded consecutive 40-point games for the first time two nights after the 19-year-old rookie No. 1 pick scored 51 to become the first NBA teenager with a 50-point outing. Flagg is the first rookie with back-to-back games scoring at least 40 points since Allen Iverson (1996-97 season).
Luke Kennard had his first career triple-double with 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 11 assists for the Lakers, who dropped into a tie for third in the Western Conference with Denver, although LA holds the tiebreaker on the Nuggets. Houston has a chance to get into the third-place mix in the final week of the regular season.
P.J. Washington Jr. scored 13 of his 15 points after halftime for the Mavericks, whose home skid was their longest at 25-year-old American Airlines Center. They lost the first 19 games of the 1993-94 season at since-demolished Reunion Arena.
Suns 120, Bulls 110
In Chicago, Devin Booker scored 30 points, Jalen Green added 25 and the Phoenix Suns ended the game on an 11-2 run to top the Chicago Bulls.
Dillon Brooks scored 15 points. He hit a fadeaway jumper and a 3 and blocked a shot during the decisive run, helping the Suns shake off back-to-back losses at Orlando and Charlotte.
The Suns led by 13 late in the third quarter before the Bulls went on an 11-0 run. They were clinging to a 109-108 advantage with about three minutes remaining when Brooks hit a turnaround jumper to start the decisive run and added a 3-pointer.
The Bulls missed four shots on their next possession, starting with a 3-point attempt by Guerschon Yabusele. Collin Sexton got the rebound for Chicago. But Leonard Miller missed a layup, a tip-in and had a put-back blocked by Brooks. Booker then made a 3 to make it 117-108 with 1:33 remaining.
Chicago’s Josh Giddey (strained left hamstring) and Matas Buzelis (illness) missed the game. And with their two best players out, the Bulls lost their seventh in a row.
Tre Jones scored 29 for Chicago. Collin Sexton had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Miller finished with 17 points and 10 boards.
Celtics 115, Raptors 101
In Boston, Jaylen Brown scored 26 points, Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors.
Neemias Queta had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Payton Pritchard scored 17 points for the Celtics, who won their third straight to move closer to clinching second place in the Eastern Conference.
Ja’Kobe Walter led Toronto with 16 points, and Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett each had 15.
Celtics center Nikola Vucevic returned after missing a month following surgery for a broken right ring finger. He looked a bit rusty, scoring just four points in 13 minutes with four rebounds.
Coming off consecuitive games of putting up at least 43 points in the opening quarter, the Celtics looked a bit sluggish and were cold from long range early, missing 13 of their initial 16 shots from 3-point range. The teams were tied at 26 after one. AP
