Los Angeles—In Portland, the Anfernee Simons scored 29 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 19 with 12 rebounds as the Trail Blazers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 107-105 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers, seeking to bounce back from an embarrassing 131-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, had 30 points from superstar LeBron James.
But despite shooting 55.4% from the field the Lakers couldn’t hold off the undermanned Blazers.
Six-time All-Star Damian Lillard remained sidelined by an abdominal injury. His longtime backcourt partner CJ McCollum was traded on Tuesday as the Blazers embark on a rebuilding phase.
“Disappointed, angry,” coach Frank Vogel after watching the Lakers let go of a nine-point third-quarter lead. “This was a game we had to get.”
Anthony Davis scored 17 points for the Lakers. Point guard Russell Westbrook sat out with lower back tightness, missing a game for the first time this season amid trade speculation that has intensified amid his recent struggles.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Utah Jazz halted Golden State’s nine-game NBA winning streak on Wednesday with a 111-85 victory.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points to lead six players in double figures for the Jazz, who out-scored the Warriors 48-20 in the paint and out-rebounded them 52-35.
“We took care of business as a group,” Mitchell said after Utah’s fourth straight victory. “That’s all that matters.”
Mitchell was playing his third game after missing eight with concussion symptoms. He handed out eight assists and said he didn’t mind departing late in the fourth quarter—to a standing ovation—shy of a triple-double.
“I’m coming back from a concussion, I’m trying to get into shape,” he said. “They’re a good team, they make you work.”
Jordan Poole paced the Warriors with 18 points and Stephen Curry added 16, but Golden State lost by their biggest margin this season.
Bulls halt skid
DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points to power Chicago to a 121-109 victory over the Charlotte Hornets that kept the Bulls in third place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls snapped a two-game skid to stay a hair in front of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-92.
“We need it,” DeRozan said of the victory. “We can’t afford to drop any games.”
With that in mind, DeRozan was an efficient 13 of 19 from the field, including draining three of his four attempts from three-point range.
“Just taking what they gave me, not forcing anything,” said DeRozan, who also pulled down five rebounds and handed out four assists.”
Zach LaVine added 27 points with seven rebounds and Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points with 15 rebounds for Chicago.
LaMelo Ball, newly named to his first All-Star Game, led Charlotte with 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but the Hornets— ninth in the East—dropped their sixth straight.
In Cleveland, two other rising talents looking forward to their first All-Star Game squared off: the Cavs’ Darius Garland and Dejounte Murray of the Spurs.
Garland, back after missing four games with a sore back, connected on 12 of 15 shots from the floor on the way to 27 points with six assists.
Jarrett Allen scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Caris LeVert, acquired this week in a trade from Indiana, contributed 11 points off the bench.
Murray scored 16 points, six rebounds and nine assists for San Antonio, which had 18 points each from Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell.
The Toronto Raptors pushed their winning streak to seven games with a 117-98 victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
Pascal Siakam was 13 of 17 from the field to score 27 points with 16 rebounds and Fred VanVleet drained six three-pointers on the way to 21 points for Toronto, who took control early and never trailed after the first quarter.
