HOUSTON — Luka Doncic had 40 points and LeBron James added 30 as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
It’s the 10th win in 11 games for the Lakers, who also beat Houston, 100-92, on Monday.
The Lakers led by 4 with about 90 seconds remaining when Doncic found James for an alley-oop dunk. Kevin Durant had a turnover on the other end and Doncic made a 3-pointer to push the lead to 120-111 with less than a minute left.
Doncic had 10 assists and nine rebounds to finish one rebound shy of a triple-double. James was 13 of 14 from the floor — tying the best single-game shooting effort of his career — and had five rebounds to give him 12,002, making him the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 rebounds. James also shot 13 of 14 for Miami against Charlotte on Feb. 4, 2013.
Alperen Sengun had 27 points and 10 assists for the Rockets in his return after missing two games with a back issue. Amen Thompson added 26 points and 11 rebounds as Houston lost for the third time in four games.
Durant had just two points in the first half and finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
The Lakers trailed by 2 before Rui Hachimura and Doncic made consecutive 3-pointers to take a 113-109 lead with about three minutes to go.
Thompson made a layup for the Rockets before a dunk by Hachimura left the Lakers up by 4 with less than two minutes left.
The game was tied early in the fourth quarter before James scored the first four points in a 6-0 run that gave the Lakers a 102-96 lead with less than nine minutes to go.
But the Rockets scored the next nine points, with a 3 from Durant, to take a 105-102 lead with about 6½ minutes remaining.
Thunder 121, Nets 92
In New York, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Brooklyn Nets for their 10th straight win.
Gilgeous-Alexander was 8 of 9 from the field and was subbed out with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter with the Thunder leading by 38. The reigning NBA MVP extended his NBA-record of 62 consecutive road games with at least 20 points.
Jared McCain had 26 points and Aaron Wiggins finished 17 for the Thunder, who led by as many as 42 and never trailed in the second game of a back-to-back.
Jalen Wilson had 15 points off the bench and rookie Nolan Traore was the lone starter in double figures with 13 for the Nets, who have lost their last five games and 15 of 17. Leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. (ankle) missed his fourth straight game.
Oklahoma City shot 53 percent from the field and 40 percent from long distance to improve to a league-best 25-8 on the road.
Grizzlies 125, Nuggets 118
In Memphis, Ty Jerome had 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped their eight-game losing streak.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 19 points and GG Jackson added 16 for the injury-depleted Grizzlies (24-44), who are 4-15 in their last 19 games after winning for the first time since March 1 at Indiana.
Cedric Coward provided 15 points and seven rebounds. Taylor Hendricks scored 13 off the bench and made six of Memphis’ 12 steals as the Nuggets (42-28) committed 19 turnovers in the makeup of a game postponed Jan. 25 because of bad weather.
Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for Denver, just missing his sixth triple-double in the past eight games — although he did rack up 10 turnovers.
Christian Braun scored 26 points and Cameron Johnson added 20. Jamal Murray had 19 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.