PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James bowed his legs and hopped down the court. He threw the imaginary crown on his head. He stared at a Philadelphia 76ers fan base that’s disrespected all-timers ranging from James to Santa Claus.
In his first game after declaring a game-winning assist to end an eight-point night was who he is as a basketball player, James re-introduced everyone to the other facets of the game on Sunday, dominating the 76ers in a nearly perfect fourth quarter that led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-108 win.
James scored 29 points on hyper-efficient 12-of-17 shooting, extinguishing any hope Philadelphia had with a barrage of left-wing jumpers in the fourth, the final one leading to him blending his signature celebrations together into one singular exclamation point.
“You just play the game how it unfolds,” James said. “I feel like (Austin Reaves) had some really good looks tonight, but he wasn’t in the rhythm that he’s been in all season. And I understood that traveling from a different country back here with a newborn could be very taxing on you, not only mentally [but] physically, and shout out to (Luka Dončić) and his family for the newborn. That’s amazing.
“So I felt like the opportunity kind of presented itself in a way that if I felt like my two heavy hitters kind of didn’t have it or needed a little kick … I tried to punch in from there.”
For James, the game came on the heels of back-to-back duds, at least by his impossible standards. He grinded out each of his 10 points in the Lakers’ loss Monday to the Phoenix Suns and scored just eight in Toronto on Thursday, snapping a 1,297-game streak of scoring at least 10.
It seemed like the start of a new normal, James becoming the third option on a team moving quickly into an era in which it needed less from him than he’s ever been asked to give. He’d never looked more like a 40-year-old than in those two games — until his name was next to “sciatica” and “arthritis” on an injury report before the Lakers played the Boston Celtics on Friday.
But with some more rest and, just as importantly, with another set of games helping strip the rust off one of the NBA’s most reliable freight trains, James drove the Lakers on Sunday instead of merely riding in the backset.
“I do think it’s important to be reminded every now and then of what you’re capable of,” coach JJ Redick said. “And for him to have the injuries, and then to sort of start the season playing catch-up in a way, and start the season playing catch-up with a team that is also in a really good rhythm, and that’s, as a player, I don’t care how good you are, that’s tough to figure out. So tonight was super important.”
Reaves, who has established himself as one of the best offensive players in the league, had his worst scoring game of the season, making just 1-of-10 inside the 3-point line. Dončić, jet-lagged from a trip back from Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter, said he wasn’t in the best mental space.
Someone else had to star — and James comfortably slid into the spotlight.
“Thank God for him,” Reaves said.
“That was vintage Bron,” Dončić added.
And, maybe, it was future Lakers.
The biggest strength the Lakers’ offense might have on a nightly basis is its ability to have top-end talent go nuclear.
Sunday was James’ turn, the 23-year vet scoring his season high and showing the most burst he has since he rejoined the lineup three weeks ago.
“Just at 40 years old, I mean, it just takes a while for my body to kind of get back into a rhythm,” James said. “And so it felt good tonight to kind of feel like myself a little bit, being able to run and jump and cut and catch my second win a lot faster tonight. Hopefully that stays.”
Dončić still managed a 31-point, 15-rebound and 11-assist triple-double in his first game since Monday.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” he said. “It was a lot. I was there for the birth of my daughter, so that means everything to me. But it was definitely a rollercoaster.”
Dončić’s return came with the Lakers wrapping a stretch with three games against Eastern Conference teams with winning records in four nights — ending in Philadelphia, a place where the Lakers haven’t won since 2017.
In recent years, it’s been Tyrese Maxey’s foot speed cooking the Lakers. But while the 76ers star guard scored 28, the Lakers’ defense — often with Reaves or Jake LaRavia working from the point of attack — corralled him enough and held Philadelphia to just 48 second-half points and 35.3 percent shooting from the field. Deandre Ayton, who made all seven of his shots, controlled the paint for the Lakers (17-6).
It snapped a string of games during which the LA’s defense had plummeted; it hadn’t held an opponent below 118 points over the last six.
“The concern coming into this game was our defense and whether or not we could defend these guys and get enough stops,” Redick said, “And we did that.”
Twenty-three games into the season, the Lakers have won a bunch of different ways. It’s been Dončić. It’s been Reaves. It’s been the role players. And even occasionally, it’s been the defense.
On Sunday, it was James.
“He’s old as hell,” Maxey said. “But he loves the game. That’s big. He still gets up at 5, 6 o’clock in the morning. He’s done this for 23 years. There’s no way I’m doing this for 23 years.”