Pakistan, April 12 -- LeBron James had 28 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with their 101-73 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

Luke Kennard scored 19 points and Rui Hachimura added 13 for the Lakers, who will be either the third or fourth seed in the Western Conference despite finishing the regular season without injured stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Los Angeles (52-29) is one game behind third-place Denver (53-28) with one game left, but LA holds the tiebreaker over the Nuggets.

The Lakers won their second straight and their 15th in 19 games with a vintage performance from the 41-year-old James, who showed no...