As the LA Lakers return to the court for the first time since Kobe Bryant's death, Damian Lillard's focus overwhelms the Staples Center crowd, as Huw Hopkins reports on this and a number of top performances, including Kyrie Irvings 54 and Milwaukee's loss to Denver
Saturday 1 February 2020 18:50, UK
Amazing Grace sung by Usher, Oprah Winfrey hugging LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and other tributes made the first home game for the team an emotional evening. It wasn't made any easier by an unstoppable performance from Damian Lillard.
Lillard led his Portland Trail Blazers to a gritty win against the pained Lakers.
The teams played each other basically even in the first half as the teams attempted to get back to basketball.
Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony did not play as he was still grieving the loss of his friend Bryant, which meant that Portland's leader Lillard had to set the tone.
While he scored 19 points in the first half, he exceeded that with a huge third quarter, playing inspired basketball after being called for a technical foul. His scoring display included a furious drive and dunk in a sea of purple and gold jerseys, as well as a dazzling range of three-point shots. The Lakers defense turned its focus on to Lillard, who then got his teammates involved.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said "it's been a heavy night all night" as his side entered the fourth quarter down by 10 points.
The player who the Lakers now turn to in difficult situations, LeBron James, righted the ship after he returned to the court, including a deep three to close the gap to four. But it wouldn't be enough, and the Lakers eventually accepted the 8-point defeat with 20 seconds to go.
Lillard's 48 led the way, which was his seventh game with more than 30 points. But it wasn't easy, as he explained after the game.
He said: "It was hard. Everybody had a lot of emotions coming in. One of our legends and icons in the world. It was a tough night and the game started off slow because of that, but both teams found it after the first half and it was a great game.
"When we play this game, we play it because we love it.
"It's hard to come out of something like this and being proud, given the situation.
"The one thing we have in common with Kobe is the love of this game, and we're here and wanted to come out and honour him [by competing hard]."
A dominant second half by the Denver Nuggets gave the Milwaukee Bucks, the only remaining team in the NBA with fewer than 10 losses, a rare frustrating evening, despite Giannis Antetokounmpo managing 31 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists.
The way the Nuggets overcame a typically dominant performance from the league's reigning MVP was with a team effort. Every Denver player that stepped on the court finished the game with double digits in the scoring column, however, it was Nikola Jokic and Will Barton who led the way, both with near triple-doubles of their own.
Milwaukee exploded out of the gate, with 43 points in the first quarter, but the home team only led by 8 going into the second. Playing back and forth in the second quarter left the door open for the visitors, who outscored the Bucks by 16 in the third quarter and never looked back.
Denver did their damage from beyond the three-point line, hitting 22 of their 46 shots from long range and every Nugget hitting at least one three each.
The loss puts Milwaukee at 41-7 on the season with easily the league's best record, while Denver's second win in a row puts the Nuggets in second place behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.
An all-Texas tussle saw the Houston Rockets set the tone early on their home court and never look back against the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks.
The Slovenian star turned his ankle at training and might be out until the NBA All-Star break, but the Mavericks showed great fight, with often-criticised forward Kristaps Porzingis picking up the slack in the scoring column. His 35 points and 12 rebounds, however, would not be enough to defeat the Rockets, who had two 30-point scorers to contend with: James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Harden added 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals to his 35 points, while Westbrook managed 32 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals. This made Houston too hot to handle for Dallas, and despite an effort to come back in the fourth quarter, it was a case of too-little, too-late, as the visitors dropped back one spot in the playoff standings.
Despite losing one of the franchise's all-time legends in Russell Westbrook last summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder have not missed a step. The player they got in return, Chris Paul, has helped the young roster stay competitive and the team continues its attempt to lock up a playoff seed.
Paul managed 20 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals in a back-and-forth game that ended with Danilo Gallinari adding 27 points.
After missing out on being selected as an All-Star reserve, Devin Booker put in 27 points, which was matched by Kelly Oubre Jr, who also managed 11 rebounds, but the duo couldn't slow down the Thunder during the fourth quarter as the visitors outscored the home team 32-26 in the final frame.
The reigning champion Toronto Raptors continue to surprise the league, as they now sit second in the Eastern Conference after beating the Detroit Pistons in Michigan.
The man who is leading the charge is Pascal Siakam, and his 30-point, seven-rebound outing did that on the road for the Raptors. Serge Ibaka poured in 21 points, while Fred VanVleet had a well-rounded performance, adding two steals to his 16 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, which made up for a night in which Kyle Lowry struggled across the board.
The total team effort outshined another 20-point, 20-rebound performance from Andre Drummond while his Detroit Pistons struggled in the scoring department outside of Derrick Rose's 21.
The Toronto win puts a solid lead between them and the joint third-seeded Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, in what is a competitive Eastern Conference this year.
When Kyrie Irving goes off for 54 points, it is going to be tough for any team to keep up with the Brooklyn Nets, let alone the hapless Chicago Bulls.
At the end of the first half, Irving scored a fast-break layup and then stole the inbounds pass and hit a long range three at the buzzer to shoot a perfect 10-for-10 shots in the first half for 27 points.
After that, the onslaught continued, but Irving also had help from Spencer Dinwiddie, who added 20 points, and Taurean Prince's 16 points and eight rebounds.
The Bulls still managed to score well, shooting 48.8 per cent from the field, but the lack of defense was evident as Irving was unstoppable.
It might only be five games, but the Zion Williamson-Brandon Ingram pairing seems to be working well for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Combining for 54 points in a win over the current eighth seed in the playoff picture, Williamson and Ingram led the way in a total team effort that closed the gap on the Western Conference rival.
Williamson managed 24 points with 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and won the first match-up of their careers between the top two draft picks in the 2019 NBA Draft against Ja Morant, who, despite some gravity-defying dunks, managed just 16 points and three assists.
Ingram scored 20 with seven rebounds, but eight Pelicans in total finished with double digits and made it a large victory for the home team.
