Los Angeles Lakers 122-114 New Orleans Pelicans

Though Anthony Davis sat out the game at the Smoothie King Center on Sunday, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans for the fourth time this season, sweeping the opponents.

LeBron James was the biggest hero for the purple and gold. The 35-year-old superstar dropped 34 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. The Pelicans could not stop him at all when "The King" forced his way into the paint where he went 8-10. More importantly, James also delivered a nice 60-percent (3-5) 3-point rate.

On New Orleans' side, Zion Williamson continued with a monstrous performance as he put down a career-high 35 points. The 19-year-old was 12-16, earned 13 free throws and made 11 of them. Since Davis was absent, the Lakers tried to have Kyle Kuzma defend Williamson by himself. As a result, Williamson went 7-8 on Kuzma, including a quite humiliating alley-oop over him.

The purple and gold scrambled their brains over how to defend Williamson. In the first half, Williamson kept going for deeper positions before receiving the ball so he could shoot after one quick move thanks to his incredible explosiveness. In response, the Lakers' defenders began to follow him closely from the second half so the help from defense could arrive before Williamson got off the defense.

The efforts were good but not good enough because Williamson found his solution in the second half. He began to get the ball further from the basket so he would have enough space to penetrate. In the end, the Lakers had to have James guard Williamson.

The two hugged each other after the game and this seemed to be the first time that they talked to each other since Williamson joined the league.

"It's my obligation, it's my job to continue to pass on the game to the guys that's coming in after me. That's just my responsibility. No one told me to do that, I just feel like it's my responsibility to leave the game in a better place than when I had it," James said after the game.

"I mean, he is who he is. He's an incredible player. I give respect when it's due. He hit a big shot that helped them seal the game," said Williamson.

Milwaukee Bucks 93-85 Charlotte Hornets

Though the Bucks saw their record of 100+point-game-streak end at 83, Sunday's win was still worth celebrating for two reasons. First, they became the fifth team in NBA history to reach at least 52 wins in the first 60 games. Second, Giannis Antetokounmpo claimed 41 points, 20 rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes, which is faster than anybody else.

The previous record belonged to Bob Pettit in 1959 and Elgin Baylor in 1960, both of whom used 36 minutes to get 40+20+5.

What might please Bucks fans even more was that the Greek Freak seemed to enrich his arsenal again. He made multiple turnaround fadeaway jumpers. Though his 3-pointer-shooting was still unstable, when Antetokounmpo did not have to jam into the paint to score, he would only make the opponents' defense even more desperate.

"He's tough to stop when he's making shots like that. It's kind of like a Dirk [Nowitzki] shot. He's 7 foot almost and his release is so high it's tough to block him. I felt like my arm was right there," said Miles Bridges of Charlotte.

"It's a shot I feel comfortable taking. I have been working on it since Year 3. Some nights I feel good and have the extra pep in my step. As long as I get it high enough and it goes over the rim, it's a good shot," said Antetokounmpo.

Philadelphian 76ers 130-136 Los Angeles Clippers

Without either Joel Embiid nor Ben Simmons, playing in a road game, the 76ers had been expected to win by probably no one at the Staples Center. They lost indeed but only by six points, not to mention that the 76ers were the leading side in over half of the game time.

Former G-League swingman Shake Milton was the reason they could do that. The No. 54 selectee in  the 2018 NBA Draft went 7-9 from downtown to get career-high 39 points. In the first half, he only missed one of his 11 attempts and was perfect five for five from downtown. Milton also had 10 points in the last quarter.

If it weren't for the 102 points scored by Kawhi Leonard (30), Paul George (24), Lou Williams (24), Montrezl Harrell (24) and the 33 free throws made by the whole team, the Clippers would have suffered a surprising setback. Fortunately, the team continued to take the eighth win in a row with their complete squad.

Other results on Sunday (home teams in bold):

Dallas Mavericks 111-91 Minnesota Timberwolves

Toronto Raptors 118-133 Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons 100-106 Sacramento Kings

Washington Wizards 124-110 Golden State Warriors