If anyone was thinking that LeBron James was starting to show signs of slippage this season at age 41, he reminded them on Thursday that he still has a decent amount of tread left on his tires.

In the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 124-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, he dropped 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, giving him his first triple-double of this season. That stat line also made him the oldest player in NBA history to ever post a triple-double in a game.

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That win gave the Lakers a 33-21 record going into the All-Star break. They’re in fifth place in the Western Conference, and few people, if any, consider them to be true championship contenders right now. But on ESPN’s “First Take,” Stephen A. Smith said that James’ continued stellar play, when combined with the outstanding offensive production of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, could allow L.A. to make a deep playoff run this spring.

“When LeBron James is great, the Lakers have the potential to knock off some people,” Smith said.

“… The fact of the matter is is that, if you’ve got three dudes that are playing at an elite level offensively, that puts more pressure on them (opposing teams) to produce offensively as well when they’re going up against the Lakers, and everybody can’t do that.

“… They could possibly make a little run, go deep into the Western Conference playoffs. That’s what I’m looking at. That’s why I’m excited when I see him like this at this age because I’m saying to myself, ‘Yo, the Lakers could make it interesting if they play at an elite level offensively.”

James is currently averaging 22 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists a game, and while his 3-point shooting is a problem right now (he’s making just 30.5% from 3-point range this season), he’s still clearly a superstar-level player.

Doncic, meanwhile, is leading the NBA in points, free throw attempts and free throw makes per game and is third in assists per game. Reaves, after missing over a month due to a gastrocnemius strain, is starting to get back into game shape and rhythm.

The Lakers seem a bit overdependent on their three stars to play well in order to win, and they have seldom had all three of them in uniform at the same time this season. But they are first in field-goal percentage and second in free throw attempts a game, and there have been times when they have shown glimpses of what they can be offensively when fully healthy.

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L.A. may not go all the way this season, but as Smith said, it could spoil the hopes of a couple of teams above it in the Western Conference standings this April and May.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Stephen A. Smith: Lakers could go deep in playoffs thanks to LeBron