Doncic and LeBron power Lakers, Spurs stumble in Memphis

Luka Doncic and LeBron James scored 30 points apiece on Tuesday in a hard-fought win by Los Angeles Lakers against the New Orleans Pelicans (111-103), while the Spurs fell to the Grizzlies despite a stellar return from Victor Wembanyama.

With this result, the Lakers regained third place in the Western Conference. Doncic and James hogged all the Angelian offensive responsibility, combining for 60 points and 18 assists and making the decisive plays in the fourth quarter.

The Slovenian finished with 30 points and 10 assists though, he struggled from the field in the first half, missing all six of his three-point attempts. Outside shooting remains the biggest weakness for JJ Redick's team, which saw its players hit just three of 17 3-point attempts (17.6%) in the opening half.

In the second half, Doncic was recovering his aim until he made an implausible basket that sealed the visitors' victory with two minutes to go. The point guard, who leads the voting for February's All-Star Game, pulled a magical three-pointer out of his hat when he was cornered by Puerto Rican José Alvarado.

Doncic thus gave an already definitive nine-point lead (105-96) to the Lakers, who also watched with delight as LeBron continues to regain his rhythm after missing the start of the campaign with sciatica. The 41-year-old forward finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

With 42 points, forward Trey Murphy III was the leading scorer for the Pelicans (8-30), who have eight straight losses and are the worst team in the division. With their third straight win, the Lakers moved back ahead of the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets and into third place in the West at 23-11.

Wemby's brilliant return not enough to beat the Spurs in Memphis

Ahead of them are only the Oklahoma City Thunder (30-7) and the San Antonio Spurs (25-11), whom they will visit on Wednesday. The Texans, however, stumbled Tuesday with a narrow 106-105 loss on the Memphis Grizzlies’ floor despite the 30 points Wembanyama scored in just 21 minutes.

The French phenom, who started as a reserve, was returning after the knee injury he suffered on Dec. 31. Guards De'Aaron Fox (9 points) and Stephon Castle (15) were particularly disastrous with a record between them of 9 baskets out of 31 attempts.

Cam Spencer (21 points) made the winning basket for the Grizzlies, who had the loss of their leader, Ja Morant.

Indiana's losing record

Seven months after competing in the Finals, the Indiana Pacers set a new franchise losing record Tuesday with their thirteenth consecutive loss. The reigning runners-up fell this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-116 and moved to a league-worst 6-31 record.

The Pacers had already started the season swithout much hope because of a serious injury during the Finals to star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who will miss the entire season.

Cameroon's Pascal Siakam, the team's second-leading scorer, scored 22 points Tuesday while point guard Darius Garland scored 29 for the Cavaliers, who were allowed to rest their best player, Donovan Mitchell.