NBA Roundup: LeBron James explosive in Lakers win over the Bucks; GSW inconsistency continues

The Lakers and the Bucks were reigning No. 1 seed in their respective conferences going into Thursday’s heavyweight clash but it was the defending champion Lakers that came out on top, 113-106, giving them their second consecutive victory against Milwaukee dating back to last season.

LeBron James was the star of the show yet again finishing with 34 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also did his share of the heavy lifting as he hit seven of 10 3-point attempts to boost the Lakers to the victory.

The Bucks, meanwhile, came up flat from behind the arc just as they did in the game against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, making only nine of their 28 3’s, and despite 67 points from their star trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday, their role players just couldn’t pick up enough to share the load and propel the Bucks to victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2c9z9vOqp4

The win ensured that the Lakers reclaim the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed with a 12-4 record. The Bucks, on the other hand, now 9-6, fall to No. 3 in the East. And with the Nets already proving a serious force and Boston and Philadelphia surging, Milwaukee will have to figure out these issues against top teams quickly if it wants to reclaim the conference’s regular-season standings top spot.

New York Knicks 119-104 Golden State Warriors

R.J. Barrett recorded a career-best in points against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday scoring 28 points while the New York Knicks used a 40-point first quarter to build a lead they relinquished only momentarily in a 119-104 victory in San Francisco.

All five Knicks starters scored double digits including Mitchell Robinson with 18 points and Julius Randle with 16 points, as New York opened a four-game Western swing with an impressive win.

Stephen Curry notched a game-high 30 points but shot just 5-for-14 on three-pointers, for the Warriors, who were coming off back-to-back wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio over the previous three days.

Seeking a third straight win, the visitors went up by as many as 11 in the first period and were caught just once the rest of the night, that coming at 55-all after a pair of Curry free throws with 2:01 remaining in the half.