New York (AFP)

Even diminished, the Toronto Raptors, reigning NBA champions, showed that they had beautiful remains by ending Sunday in Los Angeles, the series of Lakers (113-104) who remained on seven consecutive victories.

Without leader Kyle Lowry (fractured left thumb) or Spanish winger Serge Ibaka (ankle), the Canadian franchise has scored a seventh success in nine games and remains in second place in the Eastern Conference.

LeBron James' triple-double (13 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds), the only one of the NBA party, was not enough, against Raptors much more combative and dominating in the last two quarters (61 points scored against 44). The defending champions have made their unbeaten run against the Lakers in ten matches.

Pascal Siakam (24 points, 3 against, including 1 spectacular on LeBron James), Fred VanVleet (23 points, 10 assists), and even Chris Boucher (15 points, equaling his career record, and 3 cons), showed that he had to rely on Toronto this season to keep his favorite franchises out of his way. The Clippers of ex-Raptor Kawhi Leonard, who will find his former team next night, are warned.

- Antetokounmpo in "MVP" mode -

In other games of the evening, the Bucks signed their seventh win of the season against Oklahoma (121-119). Giannis Antetokounmpo, MVP of the 2018-2019 regular season, was still performing well (35 points, 3 assists, 16 rebounds).

The Minnesota-Denver, won by the Nuggets (100-98 AP), offered a nice duel between Karl-Anthony Towns (25 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists) and Nikola Jokic (20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) decisive).

This is the pivot of the Nuggets who had the last word: if "KAT" managed to snatch extra time, Nikola Jokic has offered, at 2.4 seconds of the time, the victory to his, two days after having already scored basket of victory, 2.2 seconds from time, against the Philadelphia Sixers.

The latter dominated Charlotte (114-106), led by Joel Embiid and Furkan Korkmaz, respectively authors of 18 and 17 points.

Four Frenchmen stepped into the NBA tonight, including one for the first time: Jaylen Hoard, who played in the G-League, was indeed recalled by Portland, with whom he played a few seconds (1 rebound), in any end of extra time, to secure the win against Atlanta (124-113).

With 22 points, Evan Fournier, who also picked up 3 rebounds and delivered 6 assists, has finished top scorer for Orlando, defeated by Indiana (109-102).

In New York, where the Knicks sank against Cleveland (108-87), Frank Ntilikina scored 4 points, offered 6 assists and 6 rebounds, all defensive.

Elie Okobo (4 points, 2 assists) came in at the end of the match, while the Phoenix Suns had already secured their overwhelming victory over the Brooklyn Nets (138-112).

The results of the North American Basketball Championship (NBA) after the matches played on Sunday:

Sunday:

New York - Cleveland 87 - 108

LA Lakers - Toronto 104 - 113

Orlando - Indiana 102 - 109

Philadelphia - Charlotte 114 - 106

Portland - Atlanta 124 - 113 ap

Phoenix - Brooklyn 138 - 112

Oklahoma City - Milwaukee 119 - 121

Minnesota - Denver 98 - 100 ap

© 2019 AFP