LeBron James heroics not enough as Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors beat Los Angeles Lakers - 'We needed it bad'

Another remarkable LeBron James performance was not enough for the Los Angeles Lakers to overcome the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, falling 128-121 in LA.

James dropped 40 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while also seeing a crucial late three-point effort ruled out due to a malfunctioning shot clock.

Late in the fourth quarter, James had seemingly pulled his team within four points of the Warriors, only to see his shot called back.

James' job had already been made difficult enough after losing star team-mate Anthony Davis after just 12 minutes, with the former New Orleans Pelican suffering a corneal abrasion.

With Davis on the court, the Lakers had a healthy lead, but after his withdrawal the Warriors took control.

Steph Curry put up 31 points, but veteran team-mate Klay Thompson weighed in with 26 from the bench as the Warriors clinched a victory which took them above the Lakers in the Western Conference standings.

As it stands, both teams would take the final two spots in the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs.

Speaking after the controversial ending, Curry was sharing the credit for the win.

He said: "They always going to talk about me and him. It was about our total group tonight. For us, it takes a whole team to win and we needed it - we needed it bad. A big win for us. I don't know the last time we won in here against them. Big deal."

Curry addressed the shot-clock drama, too.

He said: "I've never seen that in my career. Usually they have a back-up clock or something. That's the worst thing that could happen, especially this age. You build up all pre-game, you get going and when the engine shuts off it's hard to get it going again."

Jalen Brunson drained five threes en route to a 42 point-haul which helped the New York Knicks to a tight win over the Sacramento Kings, 98-91. The win keeps the Knicks firmly in the hunt for second place in the Eastern Conference behind the all-conquering Boston Celtics. Brunson added four steals, while team-mate Isaiah Hartenstein complemented him nicely with 14 rebounds and four blocks.

Indiana Pacers beat down Brooklyn Nets 121-100, with a double-double from Pascal Siakam (11 rebounds and 28 points) leading the way. Brooklyn sink to 26-41, exactly half the win total of the Celtics. Remarkably, Brooklyn possess only the fifth-worst record in the East.

Despite Joel Embiid's continued absence, Philadelphia 76ers returned to winning ways with a 109-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Big games from Kelly Oubre Jr and Tyrese Maxey helped Philadelphia to lead at every break and keep pace with the East's middle class, remaining firmly in the automatic playoff berth conversation.

Chicago Bulls laid another heavy defeat on the hapless Washington Wizards, 127-98 as the latter slipped to a league-worst 11-56. The Bulls will need a strong late-season run to make any sort of post-season impact, but six wins in their last 10 is trending in the right direction. Nikola Vucevic's strong double-double (29 points, 13 assists) led the way for Chicago, while Corey Kispert's 16 points was the best Washington could muster.

Oklahoma City Thunder eased up in the fourth quarter to allow Memphis Grizzlies to pull closer in a game that ended 118-112 to Oklahoma City but was not nearly as close as the score suggested. The Grizzlies shared the points nicely among their starting five - four starters hit at least 16 points - but got nothing from their bench. Back-to-back wins keep Oklahoma City in first place in the West.

Minnesota Timberwolves further entrenched themselves among the leaders in the West with a 119-100 win over Utah Jazz. Anthony Edwards, an outsider in the MVP race, put up 31 points and 10 assists as the Timberwolves pulled clear with a monster third quarter.

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