Luka Doncic marked his birthday with 26 points as the Los Angeles Lakers boosted their playoff hopes with a 129-101 drubbing of the depleted Golden State Warriors on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Doncic rattled in four three-pointers with six rebounds and eight assists in a dominant Lakers win at San Francisco’s Chase Center.<\/p>\n
LeBron James backed Doncic with a 22-point haul while Austin Reaves finished with 18 points to give the Lakers a morale-boosting victory after three consecutive losses.<\/p>\n
The Warriors, missing the injured Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, were in damage limitation mode throughout after trailing by 13 points at the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n
“We needed a win like this,” Doncic told ABC television following the victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Obviously, they’ve got Steph out, Jimmy out, but it’s still a dangerous game. So that was a great win,” added Doncic, who turned 27 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Slovenian superstar believes the win can act as a catalyst for the Lakers as they enter the home stretch of the regular season, with Doncic, James and Reaves all fit after various injury absences this season.<\/p>\n
“We’ll just go game by game, but the chemistry’s going to grow — I think today was one of the best games we played together,” Doncic said.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere Saturday, Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Miami Heat beat Houston 115-105 to end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak.<\/p>\n
Heat forward Pelle Larsson scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to help the Heat hang on in a tense final period in which the Rockets were within one with 7:21 remaining.<\/p>\n
Seven Heat players scored in double figures. That included 18 points from Tyler Herro and 12 from Andrew Wiggins — who exited briefly to receive stitches for a laceration inside his mouth.<\/p>\n
It was a morale-boosting win for Miami, who have struggled for consistency since seeing a four-game winning streak snapped on January 3.<\/p>\n
Kevin Durant scored 32 points and handed out eight assists and Amen Thompson added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who were coming off a gritty win over Orlando in which they erased a 19-point deficit.<\/p>\n
In Charlotte, guard Brandon Miller scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds to propel the Hornets to a fourth straight victory, 109-93 over the Portland Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n
Miller made six of Charlotte’s 16 three-pointers and Coby White, acquired from the Chicago Bulls on February 4, scored 20 points off the bench.<\/p>\n
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