(Basketball news) The Los Angeles Lakers got a much needed win as they conjured up their 16th win of the season after they beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-115. For the Lakers, James scored 43 points as he pushed his career total to 37,903 points which left him 484 behind Abdul-Jabbar’s long-standing record of 38,387 while Thomas Bryant had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Austin Reaves and Schroder each had 15 points. For the Hornets, Terry Rozier had 27 points to lead the scoring as they have lost 13 of their last 16 games while LaMelo Ball added 24 points and Mason Plumlee had 18 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte. This result meant that the Lakers improved their record to 16-21 as they moved closer to the under .500 record.

”We just had the mindset of wanting to close out this trip the right way,” James said.

”It’s always good to get out on the break,” James said. ”The pass always makes the great highlights and I was able to bring it home in fashion.”

”I just think he is taking his time and really looking at what the defense is trying to do to him,” Ham said. ”There were times where he had to be a willing passer and he was just that. If he was going to attack them downhill, making his 3 ball, getting out and running in transition. There was a variety of ways he is on the attack and again, they had a couple of possessions where they were trying to blitz him. He’s finding the open man and making plays for other guys, and it forces the defense to play behind us.”

Luka Doncic continued his hot streak as he became the first player to record 225 points, 50 assists and 50 rebounds in 5 matches as he helped beat the Houston Rockets 111-106. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic had 39 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, he has scored at least 32 points in each of the last six games, including three 50-point games during that span. Christian Wood added 21 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points for Dallas, which has equalled their longest winning streak since the 2010-11 season. Kevin Porter Jr. had 25 points, Jalen Green added 20 points and Eric Gordon scored 19 points for the Rockets, who lost their fourth straight and seventh straight at home. With this result the Mavericks improved their record to 22-16.

”I was not worried in the first half, I just needed to be more aggressive,” Doncic said. ”That’s what I did in the second half. In the first half, I was passive, and it didn’t work well for us.”

”Winning is always great,” Doncic said. ”The energy in the locker room is amazing, so to win seven in a row is pretty good, but we want more. I think today we played very bad, but great teams come back and win games.”

”To win seven (straight) in this league, it’s not easy to win in this league, it’s easy to lose in this league, but it’s hard to win,” said Dallas coach Jason Kidd, who was a player on the 2010-11 team.

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