James totalled 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Lakers evened their season ledger at 24-24 and welcomed Anthony Davis back after the centre missed 17 games with a sprained knee ligament.

James made 14 of 21 shots and highlighted his league-leading 22nd 30-point showing with consecutive thunderous dunks midway through the fourth quarter.

Davis had a dunk on the game's first possession and finished with eight points in 25 minutes. The Lakers had gone 7-10 without him.

"For the most part I felt fine, I felt great out there," Davis said of his return.

"The first couple of minutes the adrenaline took over and after that kind of went away the wind caught up to me. When I got my second wind I was fine for the rest of the game."

James Harden produced a triple-double of 33 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while Australian sharpshooter Mills added 15 points for the Nets (29-18) who dropped to third in the Eastern Conference standings.

In San Francisco, Stephen Curry had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, rookie Jonathan Kuminga scored 22, and the Golden State Warriors routed the Dallas Mavericks 130-92.

Jordan Poole scored 17 points off the bench and Klay Thompson registered 15 points and six assists for the Warriors (35-13) to consolidate second spot in the West behind the Phoenix Suns.

Luka Doncic had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Mavs while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 10 points in 10 minutes before suffering a broken bone in his left foot in the second quarter.

In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid scored 12 of his 42 points in the fourth period as the 76ers pulled away from the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans to win 117-107.

"His dominance is huge for us," Tobias Harris said of Embiid.

Harris added 33 points for the Sixers (28-19), who opened a five-game homestand by winning their 12th of the past 15.

In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 36 points and Jaylen Brown had 30 points and 10 rebounds before both sat out the entire fourth quarter as the Celtics thrashed the Sacramento Kings 128-75.

Elsewhere, Luke Kennard scored seven points inside the final nine seconds as the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a 35-point first-half deficit to stun the Washington Wizards 116-115 while Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists for the Denver Nuggets who beat the Detroit Pistons 110-105.

The Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 125-113 win over the Charlotte Hornets, the San Antonio Spurs coasted past the Houston Rockets 135-104, and the Minnesota Timberwolves scored with 2.9 seconds left to see off the Portland Trail Blazers 109-107.

With Reuters.

Australian Associated Press