NEW-LOOK LAKERS PAST PELICANS

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP)

— LeBron James had 21 points in his first game since becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader, and Anthony Davis had 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the new-look Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-102 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.

D’Angelo Russell had 21 points and seven assists during his warm welcome home to the Lakers, who won for just the second time in six games. Los Angeles’ five new players all made their home debuts after last week’s busy trade deadline, and the Lakers never trailed in one of this up-and-down team’s most impressive performances of the season.

“There was a huge emphasis on getting this win,” Davis said. “Guys came out and played with a lot of energy and urgency. ... It was only our first game together, but it looked good.” to go there, have fun, enjoy the time with our kids.”

James only had to play a season-low 29 minutes after taking the previous three games off to rest his sore left ankle and foot immediately after he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record February 7.

Of the 10 starters on Sunday night, barring any changes to the rosters because of injuries, six were born outside the U.S., which is a record. The nine internationally born AllStars ties a record.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland guard who spent the first five years of his NBA career in Utah until he was traded last summer. Mitchell still has deep ties to Utah; he’s throwing a comedy show for charity this weekend to benefit Kearns High School, a place that he worked closely with when he played for the Jazz.

“You learn to appreciate those moments,” said Mitchell, who had to miss last year’s All-Star Game in Cleveland because of an upper respiratory issue.

“You learn to appreciate those things because they saw me grow up. I was a young kid, just happy to be drafted and then given a role to be one of the leaders on the team early, making the playoffs, having big moments, having struggles, ups and downs. And to grow into who I am today, I’m forever grateful, forever thankful.

“So to be there my first time as a starter, back on the team that I was a fan of as a kid, there’s just so many different things you can point to.”

For some — Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Sacramento’s De’Aaron birdie on the par 5, the easiest hole at Riviera, and he followed with two more pars before missing the green and then a par putt from 10 feet on the long par-3 fourth. As for his legs, there was a noticeable limp as he descended a steep cart path from the first tee, and they will be tested at the end of his five-hour round when he has to climb the 52 wooden steps that lead to the clubhouse. Homa won at Riviera two years ago and called it the coolest thing he had ever done in golf, and for good reason.

Fox, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr and Markkanen of the host Jazz — this will be their first All-Star Game appearance. For James, it’s his 19th trip to an All-Star Game. And this one will be like none other, with the NBA set to pay tribute to him passing Kareem AbdulJabbar earlier this month as the league’s career scoring leader with a halftime ceremony on Sunday night.

The league started eyeing All-Star weekend as the right time to properly fete James a few weeks ago when it looked like the timing would be right for him to break the record before the events in Salt Lake City, and then the plans began in earnest after he moved into the No. 1 spot last week.

James said he’ll be doing some studying for the Los Angeles Lakers’ stretch run over the break, but he said he’s also looking forward to some time off. He missed three games with foot and ankle issues, then returned and played only 29 minutes in the Lakers’ win Wednesday over New Orleans — so he should be fully recharged for the last 23 games.

“I’ve got a game on Sunday, but we don’t play again until Thursday,” James said. “It’ll be great not only for me, but for the rest of the group as well.”

And for Utah, hosting been 30 years in the making. The last time the league’s midseason showcase — though in this case, midseason is more like three-quarters of the way through the season, with all teams having between 21 and 25 games left on their 82-game schedule — came to Salt Lake City was 1993.

“This is a really important moment for our state to shine,” Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith said. “I mean, it’s been 30 years. To give you an idea of what the difference is, 10 times the hotel rooms needed to be secured ... and we’re ready for it.” season, most recently three weeks ago down the coast at Torrey Pines. He began his round on the 10th, regarded as the best short par 4 in the US, went long of the green, hit a flop shot into the back bunker and then holed out for birdie.

The finish was even better. The wind that made Riviera feel like Alaska on Wednesday was mostly gone, giving way to mild weather. Homa hit wedge to 4 feet on No. 7, another wedge to 2 feet on No. 8 and finished with an 8-foot birdie on No. 9.

He grew up about 30 miles away and used to attend this tournament as a fan. He also won when his beloved Dodgers and Lakers were world champions. Oh, and Woods is the tournament host and presented him the trophy. Victories are not routine for Homa, but he is getting used to them. He already has won twice this

“I feel really good about what we’ve got brewing, but we need to lock in,” James said. “It’s the first time we’ve all been on the floor together, so we wanted to see what it looks like, and the first 40 minutes looked pretty good.”

Russell’s debut was actually a homecoming, because he played his first two NBA seasons for Los Angeles before getting traded four times and eventually returning last week. Russell was clearly thrilled to be back in Hollywood, putting on an impressive playmaking performance while also repeatedly exhorting the crowd to standing ovations for the Lakers.

After he hit a 3-pointer in the second half, Russell celebrated by pointing at the letters on his chest and screaming to the fans: “Like I never left!”

“I love those moments,” Russell said. “We had Bron tonight, and we seemed a little more fluid. Everybody pitched in. Everybody played a major part in keeping the lead, maintaining it, getting stops. I like what we showcased tonight.”

The Lakers hit the AllStar break in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference at 27-32 — but the season isn’t over yet, and they’ve got promising reinforcements.

Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley joined James and Davis in the Lakers’ 30th starting lineup of the season, while Mo Bamba fouled out in 16 minutes as the backup center in his Lakers debut.

“It was just hot,” said Beasley, who scored eight points. “We wanted to make a statement and do what we do.”

Brandon Ingram scored 25 points and C.J. McCollum had 22 points and nine assists in his return from a one-game absence with a sprained right ankle for the Pelicans, who lost for only the second time in six games.

“We just didn’t play with a sense of urgency, and those were my end-of-game comments to our team,” coach Willie Green said. “We have to play with more force and have a sense of urgency that we just didn’t have tonight. Not a great effort on our part.” including five-of-six free throws. Coming out of the locker room, CI Gibson turned it up a notch for a 50-39 lead at the end of the third, highlighted by Butler’s six. They continued to push the button, out-scoring Anatol Rodgers 28-22 in the fourth to clinch the victory as Delia connected on 12 and Joseph had 10.

That gave him a oneshot lead over Rahm, who won his first two starts of the year in Hawaii and the California desert.

Rahm had a chance to get back to No. 1 last week in Phoenix — that went to Scottie Scheffler — but has another opportunity this week.

Junior girls Raptors 40, Lions 12: Riccara Beadle exploded for a game high 22 points, scoring for HO Nash by herself to earn the MVP honours as CH Reeves completed a two-game sweep to clinch the title.

Tajhanique Morley scored 11 and Durya Poitier had five.

“It feels great. Hats off to Patty Johnson and her HO Lions. They are always a team to reckon with,” said CH Reeves’ coach Varel Davis. “All season, we knew that we had the team to do it and so it really feels good that we won again. It’s been quite a while since we had this feeling. It’s so sweet to get it again.”

The Raptors led off with a 10-7 lead behind six from Beadle and four from Morley as they took control. They went up 20-9 at the half. By the third, they were out front 22-9 as the Lions failed to score.

Shanovia Moxey had six and Shaniyah Munroe added five in a losing effort.

Senor girls Rattlers 47, Knights 40: Jada Francis and Phillippa Ferguson canned 20 and 17 points respectively to pace CI Gibson to a comeback win to even the senior girls’ series at 1-1 and force the decider today. Traineia

Games

FROM PAGE 16 will do for New Providence teams. Hopefully by the next conclave, we will have a definite decision on that.”

One suggestion that was put forth was that the athletes stay in the Games Village on a rotational basis, which would allow them to remain there while their discipline is taking place. Smith said they have put forth that suggestion as well to the finance committee and is waiting on their final decision.

Name changes

While a petition was made by the Abaco Sports Council to change their names from the Loyalists to Survivors and Long Island, who have asked to use Sheep Runners as their names, Smith said they have agreed to go along with the name changes.

“With the outcome of what they went through

Green helped out with eight. Shenell Stewart led CR Walker with 16 points.

Shamaraja Cummings had seven, Kaiesa Johnson had six and Raynia Russell had four.

The Rattlers polished off the Knights with a 16-6 advantage in the first quarter. At halftime, they built a 30-13 lead. The Knights, however, responded in the third to cut the deficit to 37-27. And they used a 13-10 spurt to make it close, but it was a little too late.

“We came out and played excellent ball today,” coach Kevin Johnson said. “This is supposed to be over, but we came back after losing the first game. We played better defensively and we continued their two best players. Now all roads lead down here tomorrow (today). So we will see what happens.”

Junior boys Sharks 46, Royals 41: LaQuare Collins and Kami Davis both scored 12 points to lead a balanced scoring attack as SC McPherson staved off elimination and forced a deciding game three today. “It feels good. We just one more game to go,” said the highly spirited coach Lacricia Swann. “We expect the same intensity.” with Hurricane Dorian, we have agreed to go along with Abaco and grant them their name change,” Smith said. “This is their strongpoint and their rally time, so we have decided to accommodate them and Long Island. “We have already changed their logos and they will be displayed at the next conclave. So, everything is a go for them.”

Emmitt Smith and Malachi Cadeam both added eight and Aljah Pierre added four points.

The Sharks took a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and went up 27-17 at the half. They stayed on top 39-29 after the third and held on as the Royals outscored them 12-7 in the fourth. Darius Hanna had a game high 18, Charles Delva and Wimdishy Paul both had seven and Khamani Davis had four.

Finances for Councils

Although he can say that the finance committee has given verbal approval to the Games Secretariat, they are still working out the minor details before they provide the seed fundings to the island sports councils and federations, who will be responsible for staging the various disciplines for the games.

“I’m in constant negotiations with members from the finance committee and a lot of it is centred around finances,” Smith revealed. “We have allocated a proposal for both island

GIANNIS BREAKS BUCKS’ ASSISTS MARK, LEAVES WITH WRIST INJURY

CHICAGO (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo broke the Milwaukee Bucks’ career assists record last night against the Chicago Bulls before leaving the game with a sprained right wrist.

The two-time MVP came in needing two assists to break Paul Pressey’s record of 3,272 from 1982 to 1990. Antetokounmpo also is the Bucks’ career leader in blocks, triple-doubles, free throws made, free throws attempted and minutes. Antetokounmpo matched the assist mark when he fed Brook Lopez for a 3-pointer two minutes into the game and broke it when he passed to Jevon Carter for another 3 that bumped Milwaukee’s lead to 19-10 in the first quarter.

Antetokounmpo was hurt trying to block a finger roll by Chicago’s Coby White after the guard drove past him early in the second quarter. He jammed his wrist against the stanchion and stayed down grimacing in pain before heading to the locker room.

He finished with a season-low two points, seven rebounds and three assists in nine minutes.

A seven-time All-Star, Antetokounmpo came into the game third in the NBA in scoring at 32.5 points per game and tied for the league lead in rebounding at 12.3 while averaging 5.5 assists.

councils and federations to be increased by more than 50 percent for each entity from 2001-2023.

“The total payout would come to about $600,000, but I’m not going to say who will get what. We have 10 island councils and 14 federations and so we are still looking at that. The way the decision is going, I believe we will get the funding because the games have to go on.”

Smith, however, said they are still waiting on the projected budgets from both the island councils and federations, and they are slowly trickling in. He said as soon as they have all of them in, they will be in a better position to get the finances that they need from the finance committee.

“We have incorporated a zone connection with the Family Islands so that we can better communicate with them and to deal with any matters that might arise,” he said. “We will be having weekly meetings with the sports councils and the federations so that we won’t have any further hiccups when we meet for the final time in April.”

But Smith warned the island councils not to rely solely on the seed money that will be provided by the government, but to do their part as well in securing their own funding to help with their team’s participation in the games.

Uniforms for competition

Smith also noted that the Games Secretariat invited Chris Brown to the conclave over the weekend so that he could present uniform products for the games.

“I’ve seen his presentation and I believe it will go well because he’s a Bahamian and as a Family Islander, we believe that he will get some support,” Smith said. “He’s made contacts with the various island councils and so they are in the process of doing their own negotiations.”

Torch Run

During the conclave, Lundy and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg talked about the importance of the Torch Run that will travel throughout the length and breadth of the archipelago in time for the start of the games.

The torch will leave New Providence and travel all the way to Inagua in May and will move up to Grand Bahama and Bimini in the north before it returns to New Providence just in time for the opening ceremonies for the games.

Valley Boy Doyle Burrows, a former long-time employee of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, has been commissioned to construct the torch along with Stephen Bain.

“Each island and their councils will have a direct part to play in hosting the torch as it makes its way through the Bahamas,” Smith said. “What we suggested to them is to have a mini-fair or fundraiser while the torch is on their island to benefit the funding they need for their team.”

Competitions for Bahamas

Games

The island councils from New Providence, Andros, Grand Bahama, Long Island/Rum Cay, Abaco, Bimini & The Berries, Exuma/Ragged Island, Eleuthera/Harbour Island/ Spanish Wells, Columbus Isles (Cat Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador) and MICA (Mayaguana, Inagua/Crooked Island/ Acklins/Long Cay) will be competing in the following sporting disciplines during the games: Softball, basketball, track and field, lawn tennis, swimming, soccer, beach soccer, volleyball, beach volleyball, bodybuilding and powerlifting, boxing, cycling, baseball, youth Olympic sailing, regatta sailing, golf. There will also be exhibitions in rowing and Edu Karting moto sports.