By ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James scored 25 points, Luka Doncic had 24 and the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 125-109 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, Feb. 3, in Austin Reaves’ first game since Christmas.
Reaves had 15 points in 21 minutes after missing the last 19 games with a strained left calf. He entered late in the first quarter with the Lakers already well in control and helped them continue to pour it on during their 20-for-25 shooting start to the game.
Jake LaRavia scored 18 points for the Lakers, who finished 5-3 on their road trip and play next against Philadelphia at home Thursday night, a few hours after the NBA’s trade deadline has passed.
James had said it was difficult to evaluate the team’s potential without Reaves, who was averaging 26.6 points before he was hurt. They looked potent Tuesday, though it’s hard to judge much against the hapless Nets, who are only good at losing badly.
Brooklyn was coming off a 53-point loss in Detroit on Sunday and it appeared the Lakers might win by even more. They made 15 of their 18 shots (83.3%) in the first quarter in opening a 45-23 lead, then James scored while being fouled on their first shot of the second.
Reaves then missed consecutive 3-pointers, but came up with a steal and threw the ball off the backboard for James to slam it down. When James later dunked off his own steal, it was 57-28 and the Lakers were 20 for 25.
The lead grew to 38 before Los Angeles took a 69-40 lead to the break.
Michael Porter Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Day’Ron Sharpe finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Rookie VJ Edgecombe had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Andre Drummond added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers won their fifth straight game, 113-94, over the Golden State Warriors, who were missing Stephen Curry because of a painful right knee.
Trendon Watford had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Adem Bona made all five of his first-half field goals in nine minutes to help the Sixers to a 58-56 lead at the break. Bona finished with 11 points.
The Sixers grabbed 24 offensive rebounds for a 55-34 advantage on the boards and scored 15 points off the Warriors’ 20 turnovers.
Philadelphia’s second bus arrived only about 75 minutes before tipoff because of Bay Area traffic, but coach Nick Nurse was unconcerned about his team having a prolonged warmup since it was the second game of a back-to-back. The Sixers beat the Clippers 128-113 on Monday.
Earlier, Isaiah Hartenstein had his first career-triple double, Isaiah Joe scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Orlando Magic, 128-92.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points and nine assists, Lu Dort scored 18 points and first-time All-Star Chet Holmgren added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the defending champion Thunder (40-11), who became the first team this season to reach 40 wins.
Hartenstein finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 23 minutes. The eighth-year center became the 10th Thunder player to record a triple-double.
Oklahoma City played without Jalen Williams, who missed his eighth straight game with a hamstring injury, and Ajay Mitchell, who sat out his sixth game in a row with an abdominal strain.
