LeBron James followed his own miss and made the winning shot with 12.8 seconds left as Los Angeles Lakers earned a 103-101 victory over Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday in the restart of the NBA season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
Anthony Davis scored 34 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Lakers, and James finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Kyle Kuzma added 16 points for the first-place Lakers (50-14), who increased their lead over the second-place Clippers (44-21) in the Western Conference standings.
Paul George, who had 30 points for Clippers, missed a 3-point attempt at the final horn, while Kawhi Leonard finished with 28 points.
In the opening game, Rudy Gobert broke a tie by making two free throws with 6.9 seconds left as Utah Jazz defeated New Orleans Pelicans 106-104. The lead held up when Brandon Ingram missed a 3-pointer with one second left, completing a fourth quarter in which Jazz outscored Pelicans 27-17.
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to lead Utah with 23 points. Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell added 20 each while Gobert had 14 points.
Before the game, all players, coaches and staff members of the teams, along with all officials, kneeled during the national anthem. Players wore shirts reading ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ which was also printed on the court.
The results: Utah Jazz 106 (Clarkson 23, Conley Jr. 20, Mitchell 20) bt New Orleans Pelicans 104 (Ingram 23, Redick 21, Holiday 20); LA Lakers 103 (Davis 34, James 16, Kuzma 16) bt LA Clippers 101 (George 30, Leonard 28, Beverley 12).