Wembanyama dominates Lakers in NBA's post-fire return to Los Angeles

Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs snapped a streak of three straight losses Monday by beating the Lakers in Los Angeles, where the NBA was resumed after a fire-related hiatus, while Anthony Edwards rescued the Timberwolves in Washington.

At Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the Lakers were back in action after two games were postponed (Thursday against Charlotte and Sunday against the Spurs) because of the fierce fires that continue to ravage parts of the city.

Laker fans, many of whom delivered food and necessities to the arena for the victims, saw their team fall 126-102 to the Spurs thanks to a dominant performance from Wembanyama on both ends of the court.

The young French center racked up 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks on the night.

Veteran Chris Paul, a former Clippers player whose family resides in Los Angeles and had to be evacuated due to the fire, scored 13 points and dished out 10 assists.

The duel came even 89-89 to the fourth quarter, when the Spurs took off with a 37-13 run.

LeBron James, who turned 40 two weeks ago, had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists while Anthony Davis had 30 points and 13 rebounds.

"One thing we found out during the (covid pandemic) season is that sports brings joy back to people, even if it's temporary," Davis said. "We were anxious to get back to playing basketball in front of our fans.... It sucks that we couldn't get the win."

San Antonio, with a record of 19 wins and an equal number of losses, sits 11th in the Western Conference.

In the same city, the Lakers were ousted from sixth place in the Western Conference by their cross-town rivals, the Clippers, who also resumed activity after two postponed games due to the fires that have left at least 24 dead and thousands of homes damaged.

James Harden (26 points and 11 assists) led his team to a 109-98 win over the Miami Heat, who are dealing with the suspension of their controversial leader, Jimmy Butler.

Victory for the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter

In other games, Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter to give the Minnesota Timberwolves a 120-106 win over the worst team of the season, the Washington Wizards.

The big performance by the talented young Edwards came hours after the NBA fined him $50,000 for making "obscene gestures to a referee" in Saturday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The All-Star shooting guard, who showed the middle finger to the official after receiving a technical foul, has now received five fines in the season.

The day left two unexpected losses for the New York Knicks to the surging Detroit Pistons and the Golden State Warriors to the Toronto Raptors.

The Pistons withstood a tight finish at New York's Madison Square Garden to win 124-119 and record their tenth victory in their last 12 games.

Point guard Cade Cunningham, the Detroit star, was the leading scorer with 36 points, but the win was clinched by reserve guard Malik Beasley (22) with two 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds.

The Pistons, last season's worst team, are in eighth place in the East (21-19) while the Knicks remain in third (26-15).

Point guard Jalen Brunson shined for the hosts with 31 points and 11 assists.

Nor were Stephen Curry's 26 points enough to prevent his Warriors' 104-101 loss in Toronto.