- The NBA season has officially restarted last night, with two games involved.
- The LA Lakers defeated LA Clippers, 103-101, with LeBron James doing a superb job in the finish.
- In the opening game of the night, Utah Jazz edged out the New Orleans Pelicans, 106-104.
King James Knocks Out the Clippers
LeBron was best when needed the most, and picked up where he left when the COVID-19 pandemics stopped the league activities. James scored a go-ahead basket with 12.8 seconds to go, and then played excellent defense in the last attack of the Clips’ on both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
LBJ first didn’t allow Leonard to shoot, and after that forced PG to take a three-point attempt from a pretty uncomfortable situation. The ball was way off the target, and the purple and gold equalized their season series against the local rivals to two-all.
“I love having the ball in my hands late in the game,” James said following the game.
The contest was very interesting, with both teams having the lead and coming back after double-digit deficits. At first the Lakers were superb, and they won the opening period with 35-23, but as time went by, they deflated, and the Clippers used that to level the score until the halftime and the to make a run in the third frame and get away to a 66-55 lead.
The Lakers responded had an 11-point advantage, but dropped that too, before James took matters into his hands in the end.
The no.23 had 16 points, 11 boards and seven assists, in 34 minutes on the floor. Anthony Davis had a game-high with 34 buckets, 8 boards and just one missed free throw in 17 tries. Kyle Kuzma scored 16 with seven boards, and Dion Waiters 11.
On the other side, Paul George had 30 and five boards, hitting six threes. Kawhi added 28 and four assists. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell were out and that played a big role in this loss, as these two guys are steady contributors for Doc Rivers’ side.
Utah’s Comeback and Win Over the Pelicans
With 6.9 seconds to go, Rudy Gobert was fouled on Donovan Mitchell‘s assist. The French center calmly executed both of his shots from the free-throw line and set what would be the final score, 106-104, for the Jazz.
In the last attack, New Orleans tried to hit a three-pointer for the win, but Brandon Ingram’s shot was inaccurate.
The Jazz was fantastic in the last 12 minutes once they limited the Pels to just 17 points, while on the other side they scored 27, making their way back into the game and snatching a win in the end. At one point, Pelicans had a 16 point lead, and that was in the late part of the second period.
Jordan Clarkson was the most efficient among the Jazzers with 23 points, and five rebounds. Mitchell had 20 and five rebounds and dimes each, and Mike Conley also scored 20. Gobert had 14, 12 boards and three blocks.
Ingram was leading the Pelicans with 23 points, JJ Redick had 21 and Jrue Holiday one fewer. Zion had 13, in 15 minutes of play. Apparently, the doctors didn’t allow him to play more because he didn’t have a practice session in two weeks.
New Orleans plays against the Clippers while Jazz faces OKC. Lakers are facing the Raptors, and all the games take place on Saturday.
