{"id":603128,"date":"2026-02-14T17:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603128\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T17:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:58:44","slug":"lebron-james-triple-double-leads-lakers-to-win-over-mavericks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603128\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James\u2019 triple-double leads Lakers to win over Mavericks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just a few days prior, LeBron James looked every bit of the 41 years of age that he is, lamenting how tired he was after the Lakers\u2019 physically-taxing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after sitting out of Tuesday\u2019s loss to the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, he looked refreshed on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

James had one of his best starts to a game this season. AP<\/p>\n

James was dancing during his pregame warmups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was back to being his typically spry self.<\/p>\n

The four-time league MVP finished with 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. AP<\/p>\n

And he had one of his best starts to a game this season, which the Lakers needed with Luka Doncic once again sidelined because of his strained hamstring, en route to a historical triple-double and an eventual Lakers\u2019 124-104 win over the Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The four-time league MVP finished with 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, with his final defensive rebound at the 2:05 mark of the fourth giving him the historical statistical achievement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura added 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while Austin Reaves added 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes, starting in place of Deandre Ayton (right knee soreness), finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists against a Mavericks team that was without No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes goes up for a dunk against the Dallas Mavericks. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

What it means<\/p>\n

The Lakers snapped their two-game losing streak and will enter the All-Star break on a high note.<\/p>\n

By improving to a 33-21 record, the Lakers moved back up to the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference standings, passing the Minnesota Timberwolves (34-22) because of percentage points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turning point\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Khris Middleton missed a wide-open corner 3-pointer at the 2:59 mark in the third quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lakers had just taken an 89-80 lead after back-to-back 3s from Jarred Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber sandwiched around a step midrange jumper from Max Christie.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots as Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie and forward Daniel Gafford defend. AP<\/p>\n

If Middleton made the 3, the Mavericks would\u2019ve cut their deficit to six, and had momentum on their side against a Lakers team looking to enter the break on a high note.<\/p>\n

But what transpired after Middleton\u2019s missed 3 was Lakers coach JJ Redick calling a timeout, with Austin Reaves assisting Jaxson Hayes on a floater on the team\u2019s ensuing possession, which started a 7-2 run the Lakers closed the quarter on to give them a 96-82 lead going into the fourth.<\/p>\n

The Lakers led by double digits for the remainder of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MVP: LeBron James\u00a0<\/p>\n

James led the Lakers early, recording 14 points, six assists and two rebounds in the opening quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LeBron James takes a shot. AP<\/p>\n

He scored or assisted on 11 of the Lakers\u2019 14 made shots in the first. <\/p>\n

James finished with 10-of-20 shooting from the field.<\/p>\n

Stat of the game: 41 years, 44 days<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how old James was on Thursday, making him the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double.<\/p>\n

James was almost a full year older than Karl Malone when Malone was 40 years and 127 days old when he recoerded a 10 point-11 rebound-10 assist triple-double in a Lakers win over the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 28, 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James led the Lakers early, recording 14 points, six assists and two rebounds in the opening quarter.\u00a0 NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Not only is James now the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double, but he\u2019s also got 16 of the other top-17 spots for oldest players to record the statistical feat.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

A much-needed break from games with the All-Star Weekend on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The Lakers won\u2019t play again until they host the Clippers in their first game after the break on Feb. 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They have a few players set to participate in All-Star festivities over the weekend: Hayes in Saturday night\u2019s Dunk Contest; Doncic and James in Sunday\u2019s All-Star Game.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few days prior, LeBron James looked every bit of the 41 years of age that he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,160,686,149,4057,1331,185,150,166,6,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-603128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dallasmavericks","13":"tag-j-j-redick","14":"tag-lebron-james","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-mavericks","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116070285975730503","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}