NBA | Luka Doncic scores 40 points as Lakers beat Rockets at Basketball News

Doncic recorded his 11th 40-point game of the season as the Lakers beat the Rockets for the second time in three days.

Luka Doncic scored 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 was the 10th win in 11 games for the Lakers, who beat Houston 100-92 on Monday night.

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

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 his career-best single-game shooting effort – and had five rebounds to give him 12,002, becoming the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 rebounds. James shot 13 of 14 for Miami against Charlotte on February 4, 2013.

Alperen Sengun had 27 points and 10 assists for the Rockets after missing two games with a back problem. 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 two and took a 113-109 lead with about three minutes left before Rui Hachimura and Doncic made consecutive 3-pointers.

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

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

But the Rockets scored the next nine points, capped by a 3-pointer by Durant, to take a 105-102 lead with about 6 and a half minutes left.

The Lakers are in third place in the Western Conference with a record of 44 wins and 25 losses. The Rockets fell to 41-27 on the season.