LOS ANGELES — LeBron James scored 30 points, leading the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 109-108 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

Anthony Davis added 22 points, five blocks and three steals for the Lakers, who captured their seventh straight victory. Rajon Rondo had 14 points and six assists.

Ja Morant led Memphis with 26 points, five steals and six assists, while Jae Crowder scored 21 points. Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 20 points and seven boards. The Grizzlies dropped their third in a row.

Davis’ 3-pointer with two minutes left tied the score at 105. James’ driving layup gave the Lakers a two-point lead. Davis’ follow of a James’ miss increased the lead to 109-105 with 53.5 seconds remaining. That turned out to be the difference.

A free throw by Dillon Brooks and a layup by Morant pulled Memphis within one with 28 seconds left. James missed a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left, and after a scramble for the ball, the Grizzlies gained possession. However, the Grizzlies turned the ball over.

The Lakers rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit for an 85-84 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. They outscored the Grizzlies 30-21 in the third behind 10 points apiece by James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went scoreless in the first half.

Memphis started strong, hitting its first eight 3-pointers and leading by as much as 15 in the first half. An 11-0 Lakers’ run cut the margin to 53-50 after a bucket by James with 3:49 left in the second quarter. However, a 10-1 surge by the Grizzlies pushed the advantage to 63-51 after an alley-oop dunk by Brandon Clarke on an assist from Morant with a little over a minute left in the quarter.

Memphis led 63-55 at the break. The Grizzlies hit 10 of 14 3-pointers to 4 of 15 for the Lakers in the first half. Overall, Memphis made 14 of 30 beyond the arc compared to 13 of 39 for Los Angeles.

SPURS SNAP SKID WITH WIN OVER KNICKS
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points as the visiting San Antonio Spurs snapped an eight-game losing skid on Saturday with an 111-104 victory over the New York Knicks.

DeMar DeRozan collected 21 points and nine rebounds and Patty Mills sank all five of his 3-point attempts to highlight his 17-point performance for the Spurs, who ended their worst slide since the 1996–97 season.

Jakob Poeltl had 11 points and 10 rebounds as San Antonio posted its first win since a 121-112 victory versus Oklahoma City on Nov. 7.

Marcus Morris Sr. scored 20 points and Bobby Portis recorded 13 of his 16 points in the first half for the Knicks, who were swept in the season series and have lost eight of their last 11 encounters with the Spurs.

San Antonio shot 59.1 percent from the floor (26 of 44) and 53.3 percent from 3-point range (8 of 15) to secure a 68-43 advantage at halftime.

Aldridge’s 3-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Spurs their largest lead of the season at 73-45 before New York slowly chipped away.

Wayne Ellington sank back-to-back 3-pointers and Portis connected from beyond the arc as the Knicks cut San Antonio’s lead to 85-71 with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

Morris converted a four-point play after draining a 3-pointer while being fouled by Rudy Gay. Rookie RJ Barrett’s layup trimmed the Spurs’ lead to 105-98 with 3:30 left, but New York was unable to close the gap. — Reuters

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