BASKETBALL

Hachimura, Watanabe Face off As Suns Beat Lakers in Preseason Matchup

The Associated Press

11:01 JST, October 21, 2023

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 21 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-100 on Thursday night in a game that put Durant and LeBron James on the court for the first time in almost five years.

James scored 19 points and Anthony Davis had 15 for Los Angeles in the preseason finale for both teams.

The last time James and Durant were on the court was Christmas 2018, when the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 127-101. The game also featured a matchup between Japanese national team members Rui Hachimura for the Lakers and Yuta Watanabe for Phoenix.

Neither Devin Booker nor Bradley Beal played for the Suns.

NUGGETS 101, CLIPPERS 90

Nikola Jokic just missed a triple-double with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in Denver’s win over Los Angeles as both teams ended the preseason.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon each scored 13 for the defending champs.

Bones Hyland scored 25 points for Los Angeles playing against his former team. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard did not play.

KINGS 116, JAZZ 113

Malik Monk scored 23 points and host Sacramento beat Utah to close the preseason with its first win.

Talon Horton-Tucker scored 26 points and Colin Sexton scored 24 points for Utah, which also played its preseason finale.

TIMBERWOLVES 114, BULLS 105

Anthony Edwards scored 19 points and Minnesota completed a perfect preseason beating host Chicago.

Edwards shot 8 of 13 to help the Wolves finish 5-0. Naz Reid scored 14 points and Rudy Gobert added 10 points and six rebounds.

Minnesota had six players score in double figures and 15 players enter the scoring column.

Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, while DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points. Zach LaVine missed the game due to illness and Andre Drummond was absent due to personal reasons.