LeBron James had 33 points, 11 assists and four steals, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the visiting Detroit Pistons 135-129 in double overtime on Saturday.
Anthony Davis scored 30 points, Dennis Schroder contributed 22 points and eight assists and Kyle Kuzma chipped in 14 points for the Lakers, who won their fourth straight.
Jerami Grant had 32 points and reserve guard Josh Jackson scored 25 of his 28 points in the second half but the Pistons lost their fourth in a row. Jackson finished with five 3-pointers. Delon Wright had 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, making all four of his 3-pointers, and 10 assists, while Mason Plumlee added 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Svi Mykhailiuk had 11 points for the Pistons, who played without Blake Griffin (rest), Derrick Rose (personal reasons), Wayne Ellington (calf), Killian Hayes (hip) and Jahlil Okafor (knee).
Despite the disadvantage, the scrappy Pistons almost pulled off a stunning win.
James’ layup with 2:10 remaining in the second overtime gave the Lakers the lead for good at 123-122. His 3-pointer with 33.6 seconds left sealed the deal as the Lakers avoided being beaten for the second time this season by the NBA’s worst team.
Detroit took a 116-114 edge on a three-point play by Grant with 1:29 left in the initial overtime. But James tied the score with a bucket in the lane with 46.5 seconds remaining. Two foul shots by Grant with 26.1 seconds gave Detroit a two-point lead.
A Davis dunk knotted the score at 118 with 18.1 seconds remaining but Grant failed to hit his shot from the baseline as time expired in the first overtime.
The Pistons forced the first overtime after Jackson scored on a driving layup to tie the score at 106 with 3.1 seconds left. James missed a contested drive in the lane just before the end of regulation.
Los Angeles failed to score in the final 4:06 of regulation.
The Lakers led 88-78 heading into the fourth.
Both clubs were sloppy handling the basketball, with each team committing 23 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
