LOS ANGELES : Luke Kennard scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and hit TWO CLUTCH 3-POINTERS IN THE fiNAL MINUTES, sending the Los Angeles Clippers to a 119-115 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday (Saturday in Manila).

George scored 19 points for the Clippers, who never trailed and never pulled away in the city rivals’ first meeting of the season.

They played a choppy, chippy game appropriate for two clubs hovering around .500 while dealing with major injury problems that have slowed the development of two rosters harboring NBA title ambitions

LeBron James had 23 points and 11 rebounds in his first game back from a one-game absence under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

A positive Covid-19 test kept him out of the Lakers’ blowout win over Sacramento on Tuesday, but he received a series of negative subsequent tests that allowed him to play for only the 12th time in the Lakers’ 24 games this season.Anthony Davis had 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Malik Monk scored all of his 20 points in the second half for the Lakers, who dropped to 12-12.

Kawhi Leonard has been out all season recovering from knee surgery for the struggling Clippers, who got blown out by New Orleans and Sacramento at home earlier in the week.

They still snapped their threegame losing streak with clutch shooting from Kennard and Marcus Morris, who scored 21 points and hit six 3-pointers. Reggie Jackson added 16 points and eight assists.

76ers 98, Hawks 96

In Atlanta, Joel Embiid scored 28 points, including a jumper with 42 seconds remaining that gave Philadelphia its first lead of the second half, and the 76ers completed a comeback win over Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks.

Embiid snapped a 96-all tie with the 13-foot jumper. Seth Curry then stole a pass from John Collins. Danilo Gallinari missed a potential winning 3-pointer as time expired.

Embiid added 12 rebounds for Philadelphia, which has won each of its first two games against the Hawks. Friday night was Philadelphia’s first visit to Atlanta since losing to the Hawks in last season’s Eastern ConferPaul ence semifinal.

Young led Atlanta with 25 points. He failed to extend his streak of five games with 30 or more points but had 10 assists.

Cavs 116, Wizards 101

In Washington, Darius Garland had 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Cleveland went on a 19-0 run spanning part of each half in a rout of Washington.

Cleveland won its fourth straight game, and this streak has been pretty emphatic. The Cavaliers beat Orlando by 13, Dallas by 18 and Miami by 26.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 36 points in the third. It was 99-72 after three before Washington cut into the margin in the fourth.

Jarrett Allen had 28 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth consecudoubledouble. tive

Deni

Avdija led Washington with 16 points.

HEAT 113, PACERS 104 In Indianapolis, Kyle Lowry scored a season-high 26 points with six 3-pointers and short-handed Miami beat Indiana.

The Heat were missing four regulars, including leading scorer Jimmy Butler, but compensated with 16-of-34 shooting from 3-point range, compared to the Pacers’ 9 of 36. Heat forward Duncan Robinson scored a seasonhigh 24 points and made four 3s.

Tyler Herro had 18 points with three 3-pointers.Caris LeVert scored a season-high 27 points for the Pacers, who have lost four in a row. Myles Turner had 20 and Chris Duarte 15. Domantas Sabonis added 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Pelicans 107, Mavs 91

In Dallas, Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and New Orleans beat Dallas 107-91, two days after the Pelicans lost by 32 to the

Mavericks at home while letting them set a franchise record for shooting percentage.

The Pelicans missed their first eight shots and started 2 of 20 before going 13 of 19 (68%) in the third quarter and outscoring Dallas 63-43 after halftime for their fourth win in six games following a 3-16 start.

The Mavericks shot 68.7% in a 139-107 win to start the homeand-home set, but surpassed the 26 misses from that outing early in the third quarter. Luka Doncic, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds, was just 7 of 20 from the field as Dallas finished at 41% (32 of 79). The Pelicans shot 42% (37 of 89).

Rockets 118, Magic 116

In Houston, Eric Gordon scored 24 points and his short jumper with 1.6 seconds left lifted Houston past Orlando for its fifth consecutive win.

Houston had dropped 15 straight before its winning streak.Cole Anthony scored 26 points for the Magic, who have lost eight of nine.