LeBron nears new scoring milestone, Dinwiddie debuts as Lakers stay hot

LeBron James had 25 points and 8 assists and Anthony Davis finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers continued their improved play with a 125-111 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, February 13 (Wednesday, February 14, Manila time).

D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points, while Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves each added 15 as the Lakers won for the fifth time in their last six games, with one more game remaining Wednesday at Utah before starting their All-Star break.

Spencer Dinwiddie made his Lakers debut after he was signed Saturday and scored 6 points and added 7 assists in 31 minutes.

James, already the all-time scoring leader, inched closer to another milestone as he racked up his total points scored to 39,868 – just over a hundred before becoming the first player to reach the 40,000 mark.

The Lakers superstar became the league’s scoring king on February 7, 2023 when he  eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 38,387 points – a record that stood for 39 years. 

Dinwiddie, 30, joined the Lakers after getting traded to the Toronto Raptors from the Brooklyn Nets last week in exchange for guard Dennis Schroder and forward Thaddeus Young. He subsequently was waived by the Raptors.

In Brooklyn, Dinwiddie appeared in 48 games, all starts, and averaged 12.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds. 

The Lakers led by as many as 23 points in the first half and went up by 24 in the third quarter before finishing the victory by shooting 51.2% from the floor.

Ausar Thompson scored 19 points and James Wiseman added 18 for the Pistons, who lost consecutive games at Los Angeles after matching a season-high with back-to-back wins. Detroit lost 112-106 to the Clippers on Saturday.

Jaden Ivey scored 15 points and Cade Cunningham added 12 as the Pistons dropped to 2-2 on their five-game road trip before the break, with another game Wednesday at Phoenix.

Evan Fournier, one of the Pistons’ several additions at last week’s trade deadline, made his debut and scored 13 points in 25 minutes. 

Malachi Flynn also played his first game for Detroit, going scoreless in two minutes. Simone Fontecchio, Troy Brown Jr. and Shake Milton made their Pistons debuts Saturday.

Los Angeles jumped in front 34-24 after one quarter and was up 71-48 at the half after shooting 60% from the floor. Davis had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the first half, while the Lakers had 20 assists on 27 made baskets. They finished the game with 32 assists.

The Pistons fought back in the third quarter, scoring 31 points and shooting 48.1%, but they still trailed 99-79 heading into the final period. The Lakers rested Davis the entire fourth quarter, while James departed for good with 5:33 remaining. – Rappler.com