Doncic and the Mavericks come out winners of the Christmas duel against the Lakers, who wasted another exhibition by LeBron James | Other Sports | Sports

Wasting another display from LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers fell 124-115 to Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, while Jayson Tatum’s Celtics held off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks this traditional NBA Christmas day.

In Dallas, Doncic and teammate Christian Wood came close to a triple double in a win in which the Mavericks scored an unprecedented 51 points in their third-quarter comeback.

The Slovenian phenomenon had 32 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists that were key for LeBron James, who had 38 points, not to celebrate his 17th game played on Christmas Day with a victory, with which he surpassed Kobe’s NBA record Bryant.

James, who turns 38 on Friday, had his seventh straight game over 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to get his team back on track.

The Lakers have accumulated three straight losses that keep moving them away from the playoff positions.

The Los Angeles team, thirteenth ranked in the Western Conference (13 wins and 20 losses), started the clash strongly at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, with an initial run of 23-9 led by ‘King James’.

The forward had 18 points at halftime, which the Lakers reached with a distance of 11 points (54-43).

That lead quickly vanished in a hectic third quarter for Dallas in which they posted a 51-21 run that put the win on track.

Those 51 points are the most scored in a quarter this season and also the best by any team in a period on Christmas Day.

Doncic led the reaction with his inexhaustible repertoire of passes, feints and long-distance 3-pointers and was well supported by center Christian Wood, who had 30 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

Before the game, the Texan team honored their legend Dirk Nowitzki by unveiling a bronze sculpture in front of the pavilion in the shape of the German’s iconic one-legged shot.

Nowitzki, retired in 2019, is one of the best European players in history and led the Mavericks to their only ring in 2011.

Tatum beats Antetokounmpo

In a battle between the two best teams in the regular season, the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks by a clear 139-118 with Jayson Tatum as the main protagonist.

The talented forward unmasked each of his defenders to finish with 41 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Jaylen Brown, with 29 points and 5 triples, was also key in the acceleration that the Celtics gave in the second half to ensure the victory.

“It is always special to play at Christmas. Today we just wanted to give our fans a gift,” Tatum stated.

Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 9 rebounds, but missed teammate Khris Middleton, who watched the game from the TD Garden bench with a sore right knee.

With this victory, the Celtics, leaders of the East, take a distance of 1.5 wins over the Bucks, second.

Warriors avoid rematch

Without their leader Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors were able to beat the mighty Memphis Grizzlies 123-109 in a spectacular duel between young point guards Jordan Poole and Ja Morant.

In a high-tension game, the Grizzlies couldn’t get revenge for being eliminated in the playoffs seven months ago.

Poole, Curry’s replacement, was a nightmare for Memphis with 32 points until early in the fourth quarter he received the first ejection of his career for a second technical foul.

By then the Warriors were already leading 106-89 and not even Morant’s drive, who reached 36 points and 8 assists, could prevent the reigning champions from winning.

Nuggets take lead

In the last game of the night, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Phoenix Suns 128-125 in overtime and rose to first place in the West.

Serbian Nikola Jokic had a colossal triple double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists for the Nuggets while reserve Landry Shamet had 31 points for the Suns, who lost their figurehead Devin Booker in the first quarter with a groin injury.

In his turn, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New York Knicks 119-112 and added their eighth consecutive victory.

Joel Embiid had 35 points and 8 rebounds and James Harden also shined for the Sixers with 29 points and 13 assists.

(D)