The China Mail - Doncic leads Lakers romp over Nuggets, Kings upset Cavs

Slovenian star Doncic, once again spearheading the Lakers offense in the absence of the injured LeBron James, rattled in 31 points, with nine rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers cruised to a wire-to-wire win.

The Nuggets, missing Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, were never in the hunt after Doncic poured in 21 points in the first quarter alone as the Lakers sprinted into an early 46-29 lead.

The Lakers maintained a double-digit cushion for most of the remainder of the game, with Austin Reaves adding 22 points.

The Lakers improved to 43-25, leapfrogging Denver (44-26) into third place in the Western Conference standings.

Doncic, who joined the Lakers in February in a shock trade from Dallas, has now scored 30 points or more in eight of his 16 games with the Lakers following his blockbuster move.

"Like I always say, every day gets better," Doncic told ESPN following the win. "That's three wins in a row now so we've got to just keep it going.

"We go game-by-game because if you think too far in the future maybe you forget about the next game. We know the (standings) are tight but we've just got to try and win every game."

The Lakers' victory ensured that the Oklahoma City Thunder must wait a little longer before clinching the No. 1 seeding from the Western Conference.

- Cavs lose third straight -

The Thunder could have sealed the top seed with a Lakers loss after dismantling the hapless Philadelphia 76ers 133-100 earlier Wednesday.

The Thunder could afford to rest Most Valuable Player front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but were still far too strong for a Sixers team whose regular season is ending in disarray.

With Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George ruled out for the rest of the campaign, and Tyrese Maxey missing with a lower back injury, the Thunder coasted to a blowout, wire-to-win after leading by as much as 41 points at one stage.

Seven Oklahoma City players finished in double figures with Aaron Wiggins topping the scoring with 26 points as the Thunder improved to 57-12 -- 12.5 games clear of the Houston Rockets.

The in-form Rockets meanwhile remained in second place in the West after rolling to their eighth straight win, a 116-108 victory on the road over the Orlando Magic.

Jalen Green led the Houston scorers with 26 points, Alperen Sengun providing offensive support with 22 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Elsewhere Wednesday, Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland slid to their third straight defeat in a 123-119 loss to the Sacramento Kings in California.

The Cavaliers fell to 56-13 after 27 points from the Kings DeMar DeRozan -- one of seven Sacramento players in double figures.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' bid for a top six finish -- and an automatic playoff berth -- lost further momentum in a 119-115 home defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Zion Williamson scored 29 points for New Orleans in what was only their seventh away win of the season. The Pelicans (19-51) are already eliminated from postseason contention.

There was another sizeable upset in New York, where the San Antonio Spurs routed the Knicks 120-105 thanks to a sharp-shooting 34-point performance off the bench from Sandro Mamukelashvili.

The 25-year-old New York-born Georgian center rattled in a perfect seven-from-seven three-pointers in a blistering 19-minute spell.

San Antonio improved to 29-39 with the win to keep alive their faint chances of advancing to the Western Conference play-in tournament.

The Knicks are 43-25 and remain in third place in the Eastern Conference.

The fourth-placed Indiana Pacers meanwhile edged closer to the Knicks after staging a late rally to down the Dallas Mavericks 135-131.

The Pacers trailed by 11 points with six minutes remaining but conjured a late charge to snatch victory, with Pascal Siakam finishing on 29 points. Bennedict Mathurin added 23 points -- 16 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Z.Ma--ThChM