Lakers halt Jazz streak as LeBron continues to rest

MANILA, Philippines – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope carried the scoring cudgels to help the Los Angeles Lakers snap Utah Jazz’s seven-game winning streak with a 113-109 win on Sunday, April 7 (Monday, April 8, Philippine time).

Caldwell-Pope fired 32 points to go with 6 rebounds and 6 assists as the also-ran Lakers won their second straight to improve to 10th place in the Western Conference with a 37-44 record.

JaVale McGee had 22 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, Alex Caruso chipped in 18 points and 11 assists and Mike Muscala added 16 points and 8 rebounds in the win.

KCP up, McGee down for the @Lakers exclamation point‼️ #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/VJRIleWeeb

— NBA (@NBA) April 8, 2019

Aside from missing LeBron James, who has been shut down for the remainder of the regular season, the Lakers also missed the services of Tyson Chandler, Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson. 

Rudy Gobert chalked up 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks for the Jazz, who remained at 5th place in the West despite falling to 49-31. 

Donovan Mitchell delivered 19 points, Georges Niang had 16 points while Thabo Sefolosha and Joe Ingles put up 13 and 12 points, respectively, in the losing effort. 

Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers returned to the winning track with a 115-108 triumph over the Denver Nuggets to improve their chances of clinching homecourt advantage heading into the playoffs.

Damian Lillard scored 30 points with 6 rebounds and 5 assists as the Trail Blazers hiked their record to 51-29 for 4th place in the West while Al Farouq Aminu chimed in 23 points and 11 rebounds. 

@Dame_Lillard records a game-high 30 PTS, 5 3PM in the @trailblazers comeback victory! #RipCity pic.twitter.com/BLhibkQ6Ie

— NBA (@NBA) April 8, 2019

The Nuggets, who are already secured of at least the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and a homecourt advantage, chose to rest stars Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap. 

Garry Harris paced the Nuggets, who stayed at 2nd place in the West with a 53-27 record, with 18 points. – Rappler.com