The China Mail - Pistons pound Lakers as James marks 41st birthday with loss

The Lakers' final home game of the year got under way in a festive atmosphere, with the Crypto.com Arena hoping to salute James as he celebrated his birthday.

But the Lakers, missing the injured Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent, were always chasing the game against a Pistons line-up who led for most of the contest.

The home side threatened to haul themselves back into contention after tying the game at 79-79 midway through the third quarter.

That though was the cue for Detroit to crank up their offense, and the Eastern Conference leaders outscored Los Angeles 49-27 down the stretch to cruise home.

The Lakers' attempts to generate any kind of offensive momentum ended up being hamstrung by a string of errors. The Pistons scored 30 points off 20 Lakers turnovers.

"The turnovers, the fast break points ... just killed us tonight," said Lakers coach JJ Redick, adding that injuries have hampered his attempts to build a competitive team.

"We've really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent, but the flow of lineups and rotations -- all of that has been challenging for everybody," Redick said.

"It's a challenge for everybody -- and building an identity is difficult."

James meanwhile saluted the performance of Cunningham and the Pistons.

- 'Fast, explosive' -

"Cade is playing like the number one draft pick he was drafted as and as a franchise player on a very good team," James said of Cunningham.

"Give them a lot of credit. They're a fast, explosive team.

"We haven't had a full team all year. We've got some very important guys out. It's very hard to get a rhythm on the floor. But the better team tonight won."

The Pistons improved to 25-8 to extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference while the Lakers fell to 20-11.

Cunningham was one of five Detroit players to crack double figures, with Marcus Sasser adding 19 off the bench.

James was limited to 17 points, with Luka Doncic providing the main offensive threat for the Lakers with 30 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.

In other games on Tuesday, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey scored 34 points apiece as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 139-136 in an overtime thriller.

VJ Edgecombe's 25-foot three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining sealed victory for the Sixers, who improved to 17-14 to remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Edgecombe's game-winner was one of five three-pointers he drained in a 25-point haul for Philadelphia.

Ja Morant led the Grizzlies scoring with 40 points while Cedric Coward added 28 points with 16 rebounds and four assists.

The third-placed Boston Celtics improved to 20-12 with a 129-119 victory over the struggling Utah Jazz (12-20) in Salt Lake City.

Derrick White steered the Celtics to victory, draining 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to get Boston over the line.

White also hauled down seven rebounds and made seven blocks in a commanding all-round performance.

Jaylen Brown added 23 points while Anfernee Simons scored 20 from the bench.

C.Smith--ThChM