Doncic drops 40, James adds 30 as Lakers stretch their streak to 7 with 124-116 win over Rockets

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HOUSTON (AP) — Luka Doncic had 40 points and LeBron James added 30 as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

It’s the 10th win in 11 games for the Lakers, who also beat Houston 100-92 on Monday night.

The Lakers led by 4 with about 90 seconds remaining when Doncic found James for an alley-oop dunk. Kevin Durant had a turnover on the other end and Doncic made a 3-pointer to push the lead to 120-111 with less than a minute left.

Doncic had 10 assists and nine rebounds to finish one rebound shy of a triple-double. James was 13 of 14 from the floor — tying the best single-game shooting effort of his career — and had five rebounds to give him 12,002, making him the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 rebounds. James also shot 13 of 14 for Miami against Charlotte on Feb. 4, 2013.

Alperen Sengun had 27 points and 10 assists for the Rockets in his return after missing two games with a back issue. Amen Thompson added 26 points and 11 rebounds as Houston lost for the third time in four games.

Durant had just two points in the first half and finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

The Lakers trailed by 2 before Rui Hachimura and Doncic made consecutive 3-pointers to take a 113-109 lead with about three minutes to go.

Thompson made a layup for the Rockets before a dunk by Hachimura left the Lakers up by 4 with less than two minutes left.

The game was tied early in the fourth quarter before James scored the first four points in a 6-0 run that gave the Lakers a 102-96 lead with less than nine minutes to go.

But the Rockets scored the next nine points, with a 3 from Durant, to take a 105-102 lead with about 6½ minutes remaining.

Lakers: Visit Miami on Thursday night.

Rockets: Host Atlanta on Friday night.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA