EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The South Bay Lakers continued their strong play of late as they beat the Santa Cruz Warriors, 128-122, on Wednesday night. Pierre Jackson nearly tallied a triple-double for South Bay (16-22) with 25 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Former Laker Zach Norvell Jr. paced the Warriors (19-18) with a career-high 34 points.

Norvell Jr. made the most of his first action against his former team, pouring in 13 points in the first quarter to lead the Warriors to a 34-23 advantage after one. South Bay’s point guards helped them get back in the game by halftime, 65-61 as Javan Felix and David Stockton scored nine points apiece in the second quarter to get their team within striking distance.

South Bay inched closer in the third quarter and entered the final frame only down by three, 97-94, thanks to 14 third-quarter points from Jackson. The Lakers closed out the win in the fourth quarter, behind 13 combined points from Devontae Cacok and Jackson, as they won for the fifth time in the last six outings.

Norvell Jr.’s career night led the way for Santa Cruz, while Andrew Harrison finished with 22 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals. Jeremy Pargo tallied 20 points with eight assists and Deyonta Davis ended the night with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double. Ryan Taylor was the lone Warrior with double figures off the bench, finishing with 13 points.

Jackson did it all for South Bay, including a game-high 21 points in the second half, and Stockton also stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Cacok tallied his 22nd double-double of the year with 16 points and 18 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, while Kostas Antetokounmpo finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, good for his ninth double-double of the season. Talen Horton-Tucker scored 15 points, Felix had 13 points and Reggie Hearn rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds.