NBA: LeBron James-inspired Los Angeles Lakers snap four-game losing streak with victory over Portland Trail Blazers

The Los Angeles Lakers snapped a season-worst four-game losing streak behind a stellar performance from LeBron James as they beat the similarly-slumping Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.

A season-best outing from Kemba Walker inspired the stuttering Boston Celtics to a welcome victory over the Indiana Pacers, while the high-flying Utah Jazz were foiled by the Miami Heat and the Sacramento Kings brought their nine-game losing run to a halt.

Friday night's NBA results

• Portland Trail Blazers 93-102 Los Angeles Lakers

James recorded 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocked shots to lead the Lakers to a 102-93 victory over the Blazers, marking just their second win in seven games.

Damian Lillard had 35 points and seven assists but couldn't prevent Portland from losing its season-worst fourth straight game.

Dennis Schroder scored 22 points for the Lakers after missing the previous four games due to COVID-19 protocols, Montrezl Harrell contributed 17 points and nine rebounds, and Alex Caruso had 10 points for Los Angeles.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 19 points, Enes Kanter had 11 points and 17 rebounds, and Derrick Jones Jr. 11 points for Portland, who shot 38.6 per cent from the field and made 11 of 37 from three-point range. The Lakers shot 42 per cent from the field and were 7 of 27 from behind the arc.

Los Angeles moved ahead for good with an 18-4 burst in the third quarter, Harrell ending the run with a tip-in to give the Lakers an 82-69 lead with 1:31 remaining. Lillard had just four points in the quarter, which ended with the Trail Blazers trailing 85-76.

The reigning NBA champions maintained control in the early stages of the final stanza, with Schroder and James registering back-to-back layups as the Lakers boosted the lead to 95-80 with 8:25 left.

James later made consecutive baskets to push the Los Angeles advantage to 101-85 with 3:57 to play and after Lillard scored five straight points to move Portland within 11 he returned to hit two free throws with 46.8 seconds left as the Lakers closed it out.

• Indiana Pacers 112-118 Boston Celtics

Walker scored a season-high 32 points as the slumping Celtics shook off a slow start to beat the Pacers 118-112.

Daniel Theis had 17 points and Jaylen Brown 15 as the Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak, winning for just the fourth time in their last 12 games.

Robert Williams III chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds off the Boston bench, and Jeff Teague also scored 14 points, while newly named All-Star starter Jayson Tatum had nine points on four-of-18 shooting.

Domantas Sabonis, named an All-Star as a replacement earlier in the day, had 24 points and nine assists to lead the Pacers, who dropped their second straight. Justin Holiday added 19 points, and Myles Turner contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds.

A 9-0 run got the Pacers back to 98-97 with 8:14 left in the fourth quarter before Walker drained back-to-back buckets and the Celtics regained control, leading 110-101 with 3:47 to go.

Indiana pecked away, a layup by Sabonis getting the visitors back to 112-109 with 1:23 remaining. Theis and Sabonis traded threes, and Walker made his free throws with 11.6 seconds left to ice the win for Boston, who had entered the fourth up 92-84.

• Utah Jazz 116-124 Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler had a season-high 33 points to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists, leading the host Heat to a 124-116 win over the Jazz.

Donovan Mitchell had 30 points for the Jazz, who have the best record in the NBA and are 22-3 since January 8. He shot 11-for-26, including two-for-nine on three-pointers.

Miami have now won five straight games, beating the NBA's two most recent champions over the past week in the Raptors (2019) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2020).

Aside from Butler, the Heat also got 26 points off the bench from Goran Dragic. Heat centre Bam Adebayo, who played despite being a game-time decision due to sore knees, had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

The Jazz meanwhile got 17 points from Bojan Bogdanovic as well as 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks from Rudy Gobert. Mike Conley added 14 points and a team-high seven assists.

A 5-0 run at the end of the third gave Utah a 96-94 advantage heading into the fourth, during which Miami then claimed a 114-107 lead with 6.35 left.

The Jazz closed the deficit to 116-115 with 2:30 on the clock, but couldn't get beyond their opponents, who shot 51.2 per cent, including 14-of-30 on three-pointers (46.7 per cent) compared to Utah's 42.6 per cent, including 15-for-46 on from deep (32.6 per cent).

• Charlotte Hornets 121-130 Golden State Warriors

Draymond Green vented his frustration on the Charlotte Hornets with a career-high 19 assists as part of a triple-double, and the Golden State Warriors extracted a measure of revenge in a 130-121 victory in San Francisco.

After drawing two technical fouls and getting ejected from Golden State's 102-100 loss to the Hornets last week, Green bounced back with the most assists by a Warrior since Baron Davis also had 19 against the Memphis Grizzlies in January 2008. The 19 assists tied the NBA season-high, set last week by Phoenix's Chris Paul at New Orleans.

Charlotte rookie LaMelo Ball, playing his first NBA game in his home state of California, accumulated 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Hornets lost for the second time in three stops on their six-game trip.

Green also had 11 points and 12 rebounds as Golden State earned their first three-game winning streak after seven unsuccessful attempts following two-game runs earlier this season.

Stephen Curry had a game-high 29 points for the Warriors while Kelly Oubre Jr. went for 27, including 15 in Golden State's 36-point first quarter. The Warriors put up 30 more in the second period and 37 in the third, building a 103-84 lead before coasting home.

Andrew Wiggins (17 points), James Wiseman (16), Kevon Looney (10) and Damion Lee (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors (19-15), who improved to four games over .500 for the first time this season.

Malik Monk had 25 points and Terry Rozier 24 to pace the Hornets, who have alternated wins and losses over their past eight games. P.J. Washington put up 15 points and 10 rebounds while Gordon Hayward chipped in with 12 points and Miles Bridges 10 for Charlotte.

• Houston Rockets 111-122 Toronto Raptors

Kyle Lowry had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Norman Powell had 30 points and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Houston Rockets 122-111.

Lowry recorded his 16th career triple-double as a Raptor as the Rockets took their 10th straight loss. Toronto were without Pascal Siakam, coach Nick Nurse and five assistant coaches because of health and safety protocols. Assistant coach Sergio Scariolo took Nurse's place on the bench.

Fred VanVleet added 25 points for the Raptors, who had lost their two previous games, while DeAndre' Bembry had 13 points and OG Anunoby had 11.

Victor Oladipo provided 27 points for Houston, John Wall had 21 points and 12 assists, Eric Gordon had 17 points and P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr., each scored 11.

The Raptors, who led by eight points at halftime, had a 23-point advantage during the third quarter before taking a 15-point lead into the fourth.

Houston scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to trim the lead to seven before the Raptors went up by 12 points on Powell's dunk with 5:57 remaining. Gordon's three-pointer with 4:28 left cut the lead to six, only for VanVleet to hit a three-pointer to give Toronto a nine-point cushion with 2:27 left.

• Sacramento Kings 110-107 Detroit Pistons

De'Aaron Fox scored 27 points to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 110-107 win over the host Detroit Pistons to end their nine-game losing streak.

Harrison Barnes scored 21 points and Marvin Bagley III and Richaun Holmes each added 19 for Sacramento, the latter also grabbing a season-high 17 rebounds.

Jerami Grant scored a game-high 30 points, and Saddiq Bey and Dennis Smith Jr. recorded 17 apiece for the Pistons, who have lost five of six. With the game tied at 101, a dunk by Barnes gave the Kings the lead with 1:08 remaining.

After a free throw by Grant, Barnes then hit a three-pointer with 41.4 seconds left that put Sacramento up 106-102. Detroit cut the deficit to 106-104 with 37.4 seconds left on a dunk by Josh Jackson, but the Kings responded to take a 107-104 lead with 11.3 seconds remaining on a free throw by Nemanja Bjelica.

On the ensuing inbounds, Sacramento elected to foul Grant, who made two free throws with 10.6 seconds left to make it 107-106. The Kings took a 109-106 lead with 9.2 seconds left on a layup by Bjelica and then again elected to foul, putting Smith on the foul line with 8.1 seconds left.

Smith made the first and intentionally missed the second, but Sacramento got the rebound. Barnes then split a pair of free throws 7.4 seconds left to give Sacramento a 110-107 lead, which they held onto as Grant missed a game-tying three-point attempt with 1.4 seconds to play.

• Phoenix Suns 106-97 Chicago Bulls

Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton scored 22 points apiece as the Phoenix Suns rallied for a 106-97 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Chris Paul notched a double-double with 14 points and 15 assists for Phoenix, who claimed their 13th win in the past 16 games. Chicago-area native Frank Kaminsky added 15 points off the bench for the Suns.

Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 24 points, Coby White scored 19 points and Thaddeus Young had a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards for Chicago, whose three-game winning streak ended.

Phoenix took control with a 10-0 run to grab a 101-92 lead with 3:19 left. The run featured a jump shot by Paul, a three-pointer by Mikal Bridges, an alley-oop dunk by Ayton and a three-pointer by Cameron Johnson.

Chicago had led by seven points with 8:12 to play after a three-pointer by Ryan Arcidiacono made it 87-80. Bridges then converted a three-point play on the next possession to prompt the Suns' comeback.

The Bulls entered the fourth quarter with an 81-74 lead. A driving layup by LaVine made it 77-63 in favour of Chicago with 3:14 left in the third quarter, but the Suns bounced back with an 11-4 run.

Phoenix shot 50 per cent (44-of-88) from the field for the game, while Chicago shot 49.4 per cent (39-of-79).

• Los Angeles Clippers 119-99 Memphis Grizzlies

Kawhi Leonard's 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists helped the Los Angeles Clippers flip the script on the Memphis Grizzlies in a 119-99 victory.

A day after Memphis outplayed the Clippers in a 122-94 rout, the Clippers were much more efficient offensively as seven players scored in double figures.

The Grizzlies dropped their third game in their past four despite 22 points and 11 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas, who played despite dealing with a sore left thigh. Memphis crushed the Clippers in the paint on Thursday outscoring them 72-24 and outscored L.A. again in that area on Friday, but the gap was not nearly as dramatic - 54-50.

Leonard shot eight-for-13 from the field and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line a night after being limited to 17 points. Lou Williams recovered from a nine-point effort in 20 minutes on Thursday by scoring 17 points and finishing with four assists off the bench.

The Clippers shot 55 per cent overall, made 14-of-35 three-pointers and had 34 assists on 44 made field goals. Paul George, Nicolas Batum and Terance Mann each had 13 points while Serge Ibaka had 12 points. Patrick Beverley also had 11 points.

Ja Morant finished with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds, but his frustration with the officials boiled over with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter when he received a pair of technical fouls just after Batum hit a three-pointer to give the Clippers a 110-96 lead.

Tyus Jones, who led Memphis with a career-high 20 points on nine-of-11 shooting in only 15 minutes off the bench on Thursday, was held to only six points on Friday. De'Anthony Melton had 16 points, Kyle Anderson had 12 points and nine rebounds and Dillon Brooks finished with 11 points.

• Atlanta Hawks 109-118 Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points to help the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a 118-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Thunder have won two consecutive games for the first time in a month, while the Hawks have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games.

Gilgeous-Alexander was nine of 16 from the floor and has been averaging 31 points over his last four games. The Thunder had 31 assists on the night, one-off their season-high.

Theo Maledon's 12 assists marked the most by an NBA rookie this season, with the Frenchman tying Russell Westbrook for Oklahoma City's rookie record for assists in a game. Ty Jerome, playing his first game with the Thunder, tied a career-high with seven assists, four of which came in the first quarter.

The Thunder took the lead just before the halfway mark in the second quarter and held onto it the rest of the way. A night after going scoreless, missing all eight shots, Oklahoma City's Darius Bazley had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

John Collins led Atlanta with 25 points, scoring 12 in the first quarter, and Trae Young and Clint Capela added 17 each. Young, still searching for his first pro win in his home state, was just seven of 21 from the field.

Jerome, who was traded from Phoenix in the offseason, missed the early part of the season recovering from an ankle injury before playing for the Thunder's G League affiliate in recent weeks.

A glitch in the NBA's system of inputting jersey selections saw the Thunder wear their orange alternate jerseys in the first half while the Hawks wore red, making for some confusion until Oklahoma switched to their white jerseys after the break.