MIAMI — LeBron James scored 51 points Sunday night against his former club and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat, 113-97.
James had 19 points in the first quarter to set the tone, the Lakers led by as many as 21 and never trailed.
The 51 points was a season high for James and the most he’s scored against Miami; he had 47 against the Heat twice. His last shot was a 32-footer with 16 seconds left, capping the 13th 50-point game of his career – including playoffs – and he threw the ball skyward at midcourt when time expired.
It was James’ first time winning against Miami since he left the Heat after the 2014 NBA finals. He was 0-4 when facing the Heat since; his teams were 0-7, including the three Cleveland-Miami games he sat out for various reasons.
Wayne Ellington scored 19 points for Miami (6-10), which has dropped four straight home games and is off to its second-worst start in the last 12 years. The Heat were 5-11 at this point of the 2016-17 season, the only other time they’ve been worse after 16 games in that span.
GRIZZLIES 100, TIMBERWOLVES 87: Marc Gasol had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Mike Conley added 18 points and nine assists, and Memphis pulled away at Minneapolis.
Gasol was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Memphis hit 12 overall. The Grizzlies forced Minnesota into 20 turnovers and turned them into 19 points.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves. They had won three straight games.
TRAIL BLAZERS 119, WIZARDS 109: Damian Lillard scored 40 points, C.J. McCullom added 25 and Portland won at Washington.
Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points, 14 rebounds and matched his career high with eight assists for Portland.
MAGIC 131, KNICKS 117: Aaron Gordon scored 20 of his 31 points in the first quarter and Orlando held on at home.
Nikola Vucevic had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Orlando, which has won 7 of 9. Jonathan Isaac added 16 points.
SPURS 104, WARRIORS 92: LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 18 rebounds as the San Antonio fended off a late rally at home and extended Golden State’s skid to three games.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Klay Thompson had 25 for Golden State, which is 2-5 since an eight-game winning streak.
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