The Los Angeles Lakers celebrated a statement win over the Houston Rockets, while the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics remain hot. Meanwhile, Steve Kerr reached a milestone in the Golden State Warriors’ victory.
Following their dramatic win over the Nuggets, the Lakers swept aside the Rockets, another top team from the West, and jumped to third place. Once again, the decisive factor was an outstanding late surge by the visitors in a game that was close for long stretches and had a playoff-like intensity.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Luka Doncic at the end of the third quarter gave the Lakers a narrow lead (83-80), before the final quarter turned into a real battle. Offensively, neither team could get much going (17 to 12 points), and every point was worth its weight in gold. Just as against Denver, it was Marcus Smart who hit a crucial three-pointer in crunch time to put L.A. up by four. Houston couldn’t find an answer, and Deandre Ayton sealed the game with two key baskets, while Kevin Durant was completely shut down (two points in the second half).
The leading scorer for the Lakers, who have now won six straight games, was Luka Doncic with 36 points (14/27 FG). The Slovenian has thus scored at least 30 points in all six games of the ongoing winning streak. Alongside Doncic, LeBron James also had a really good game with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Austin Reaves added another 15 points. For the Rockets, Jabari Smith Jr. (22) was the top scorer, followed by Amen Thompson (19) and KD (18).
The fact that the Warriors beat the Wizards after five straight losses isn’t a huge surprise at first glance. However, the win was far more significant for their coach, Steve Kerr. It marked the coach’s 600th career win in his 943rd regular-season game—a milestone achieved faster by only three coaches in history: Phil Jackson (805 games), Pat Riley (832), and Gregg Popovich (887).
The game itself, however, was not particularly thrilling. The Wizards, who have now won twelve games in a row, put up a good fight for a long time (51.3 FG%), though they didn’t seem particularly interested in winning. The Warriors, on the other hand, were still missing key players like the Curry brothers, Jimmy Butler, and Al Horford, but Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, and De’Anthony Melton—who had been rested recently—stepped up to save the day.
Porzingis led his team with 30 points (8/14 FG), while Melton added another 27 points. Green was everywhere on the court and finished with five points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. For the Wizards, three players—Bilal Coulibaly, Will Riley, and Trae Young—each scored 21 points.
The Spurs and Celtics are currently the second-best teams in their respective conferences and have further extended their lead over their pursuers. San Antonio needed only a dominant second quarter, in which they outscored the Clippers—who were without Kawhi Leonard—by 22 points, a deficit the hosts could not overcome.
Although they closed the gap to -10 after a 16-3 run late in the third quarter, Victor Wembanyama and his teammates kept their cool in the final period and held on for the win. On the way to their 50th win of the season (their first since 2016–17), Wemby scored 21 points (9-for-20 FG), grabbed 13 rebounds, and blocked four shots. Stephon Castle led all scorers with 23 points, while Devin Vassell added another 20. For the Clippers, newcomer Darius Garland (25) was the leading scorer, followed by Jordan Miller (22).
At TD Garden, meanwhile, the Celtics and Suns battled it out until the final minutes in a game dominated by the outstanding Jaylen Brown and Devin Booker. Brown scored 18 of his 41 points (10-of-20 FG) in the fourth quarter, and Booker also broke the 40-point mark (40, 15-of-24 FG). After trailing by three points with just a few minutes remaining, an 8-0 run ultimately secured the victory for the Celtics.
Alongside Brown, Jayson Tatum was Boston’s top performer with 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists; Derrick White also scored 21 points. For the Suns, Jalen Green also contributed 21 points.
