MILWAUKEE - Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Milwaukee used torrid 3-point shooting to blast short-handed Chicago. Murray returned from a bruised right elbow and found his range early, scoring 14 of his 31 points in the first quarter.
The red-hot Suns have won 13 of their last 14 dating to their perfect stint inside the NBA bubble. Jamal Murray’s shot at the buzzer rimmed out.ĭeandre Ayton had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Devin Booker added 22, and Paul 21 for Phoenix, which won the night before in Utah. Phoenix won the jump ball and Paul hit a jumper to send the Suns to the victory after blowing a 16-point lead. But Suns coach Monty Williams successfully challenged the play, with replays showing Bridges slid underneath Harris with no contact. With Phoenix leading 102-100 with around 30 seconds remaining, Mikal Bridges was called for a foul that would’ve sent Gary Harris to the line.
James followed with a layup, and Davis closed the scoring with two free throws.ĭENVER - Chris Paul hit a clutch jumper with 7.3 seconds remaining after a successful coach’s challenge on the other end and Phoenix beat Denver to improve to 5-1 for the first time since 2009-10. Johnson blocked James’ layup attempt, but Kyle Kuzma tipped in the follow to give the Lakers a 105-103 lead with 53.9 seconds remaining. The Lakers now don’t have much money to give DeRozan, however, making him an unlikely option to return to his hometown and don the Purple and Gold unless he’s willing to take the mid-level exception.Keldon Johnson had a career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for San Antonio. It was recently reported that DeRozan talked with James about coming to the team before the Westbrook trade went down. With the loss of Kuzma, the Lakers really need a player that can defend bigger wings, which Gay would provide them. Gay is coming off a solid season with the San Antonio Spurs in which he averaged 11.4 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 38.1% from three. although would likely take up all or part of their mid-level exception. Gay is another intriguing option for L.A. James could probably convince his friend to take a minimum salary with the Lakers, which will be necessary with their lack of cap space. He shot 40.9% from 3-point range on 4.7 attempts per game with the Portland Trail Blazers last season. While 37 years of age, Anthony would still be able to bring a valuable skillset to the Lakers due to his shooting ability. With Westbrook now headed to Los Angeles, multiple league personnel contacted by B/R expect there to be significant interest from several veterans, including DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Carmelo Anthony, to forgo higher salary opportunities elsewhere and join the Lakers in pursuit of a championship.Īnthony is a close friend of LeBron James’ and has seemingly been linked to the Lakers every offseason so it comes as no surprise that’s the case again. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that DeMar DeRozan, Carmelo Anthony and Rudy Gay are veteran players that have interest in joining the Lakers:
Veterans may want to come to the Lakers in order to chase a ring though and they are already being linked to a couple. That means that Rob Pelinka will have his work cut out for him to put a quality roster together with limited resources at his disposal.