Luka Doncic records triple-double as Lakers rally past Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers won 115-107 on Tuesday thanks to Luka Doncic’s 38-point triple-double in the Denver Nuggets’ second-half rally.

After Denver’s explosive opening half, which led the Lakers 71-57 at the break thanks to Jamal Murray’s 26 points, the team appeared in trouble.

Murray was stymied after half-time by an improved Los Angeles defensive effort, and Doncic and LeBron James kept the scoring moving as the Lakers fought back and won a stunning game.

As the Lakers outscored Denver 58-36 in the second half, Doncic finished with 38 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. James added 19 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

They had a lot of great players, according to Doncic, who said Murray was playing great basketball and Murray was playing at All-Star level. We simply fought this out and stayed together.

With the victory, the Lakers improved to 26-16, while Denver, who is in third place, dropped to 29-15.

Texas Derby win over Spurs

The Toronto Raptors thumped the Golden State Warriors 145-127 in San Francisco while Jimmy Butler is still dealing with a season-ending knee injury from Monday.

In a wire-to-wire victory over Toronto, Immanuel Quickley led the team in scoring with 40 points.

The Rockets’ 111-106 victory over their in-form Texas rivals snapped the San Antonio Spurs’ three-game winning streak in Houston.

In the fourth quarter, Reed Sheppard put in 12 points to slam Houston’s record-setting 21-point comeo off the bench.

Houston won the game thanks to Alperen Sengun’s 20 points and Kevin Durant’s 18th overall.

In the third quarter, the Rockets had a 16-point lead before a 13-0 run ended San Antonio’s advantage.

Sheppard remarked, “We had good energy throughout the entire game.”

When we briefly cut the advantage in the fourth quarter, it was simply “keep fighting, keep staying together, we’re close, keep putting the pieces together, and go on a big run.”

“And that’s what we did,” the statement read. Great work was done by the entire team.

After a quick start, San Antonio looked to be on fire, outscoring Houston 39-28 in the first quarter before grabbing a 70-65 halftime lead.

The Spurs made just 7 of 28 field attempts in the fourth quarter, which left them without a single three-pointer on 13 tries.

San Antonio’s scoring leader, with 27 points, was led by Julian Champagnie, with 14 points each coming from De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama.

In addition to the other games on Tuesday, Coby White led the scorers with 27 points as the Chicago Bulls made 25 three-pointers in a 138-110 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers.