DEMAR DeRozan had 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and the Spurs rallied in the fourth quarter, overcoming 35 points and 11 rebounds from LeBron James to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 110-106 on Sunday.
The Spurs’ first lead came at 93-91 with 10 minutes remaining when DeRozan laid in his own miss after beating three Lakers to the rebound.
San Antonio would build the lead to eight points before James cut it to 106-105 with four straight points and an assist to Josh Hart on a 3-pointer.
DeRozan responded with a fadeaway jumper over Hart with 15.9 seconds remaining to give the Spurs a three-point lead.
It was the Lakers’ next possession that things took a horror turn and looked reminiscent to J.R Smith’s brain fade during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
LeBron received the inbounds pass from Rajon Rondo before dribbling a few times before finding a wide open Rondo under the basket.
But in a complete brain fade, Rondo turned his back on the basket and dribbled out to the three point line before dishing to Hart.
The ball then found it’s way back into the hands of James who hoisted a contested off-balance three that never looked like it was going to drop.
rondo wyd pic.twitter.com/VPFFJXBaRn
Rondo’s inexcusable mistake robbed the Lakers a chance of closing the margin down to one and pushes their season record to 2-4.
It was his first game back in the line-up after serving a three-game suspension for his involvement in an ugly brawl with Houston Rockets’ star Chris Paul.
The loss robbed LeBron James of a magical night after he moved up into sixth placed on the all-time scoring list, moving past Dirk Nowitzki.
He needed 21 points to surpass Nowitzki and now has a total of 31,202 points. James recorded his 21st point on a 17-foot jumper from the right side with 7:51 left in the third quarter.
“Dirk has always been one of my favourite players. Shaq is the most dominant player to ever play this game,” said James.
“So to be in the same conversation as those guys is a tribute.”
Unfortunately the night wasn’t to end in happiness for “The King” and it was Rondo’s brain fade that lit social media alight.
What in the world was Rondo doing??? Just take that two and play the foul game. That was pretty bad by one of the league’s smartest players.
Rondo the new JR ???
Rondo’s justification for passing up open layup was that without timeouts, Lakers would be better off finding an open three than playing the foul game down one.
BEN SIMMONS’ CHEEKY AFL CALL
Ben Simmons’ cheeky transition post NBA.Source:AFP
It wasn’t a pretty night on the court for Australian superstar Ben Simmons, but he still had social media buzzing with a cheeky postgame tweet.
The towering Simmons struggled mightily throughout the contest against the Charlotte Hornets as he finished with 14 points on 5-20 shooting from the field, but it didn’t stop the 76ers from capturing the 105-103 win.
Simmons ended the night with a double-double as he added 12 rebounds along with 6 assists.
But it was after the game when the buzz kicked up a notch as Simmons tweeted out a cheeky suggestion of a potential move back to Aussie rules.
@EssendonFC before it’s all done, I need one season in the red and black
Simmons juggled playing both basketball and football growing up and while he loved both sports, he always knew he loved basketball more.
“I played footy for a while,” Simmons told 60 Minutes earlier this year. “I was always a ruckman but I wanted to play forward and kick goals.
“I love playing the game, it’s a very fun game.
“Dad always knew I was going to play basketball, so for me I always knew inside I wanted to play basketball and get to that next level and compete against the best.”
Bombers ruckman Tom Bellchambers was quick to respond to Simmons and would happily swap shoes with him for a season.
“Happy to trade positions for a year bro,” he wrote.
— with AP
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