There was some talk that after a tough loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, LeBron James would sit out the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Thursday evening road game versus the Portland Trail Blazers. But he was declared available shortly before the opening tip, and he led the Lakers to victory in an intense and fast-paced contest.
It wasn’t exactly the cleanest of basketball games — James had an inexcusable 11 turnovers — but he displayed plenty of energy throughout the contest and dropped 40 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, on 14-of-24 shooting from the field. On a night when the Lakers were without Luka Doncic, it was enough for a 110-102 win that stopped a two-game losing skid.
James continues to mock the very concept of Father Time at age 40. Guard Austin Reaves, who had a stellar game of his own with 32 points and seven assists, said the NBA’s all-time leading scorer “doesn’t have anything else to prove.”
Head coach JJ Redick was similarly effusive and made it clear he wasn’t “glazing” the superstar.
James has now had two 40-point games since turning 40 years of age, and both have come just this month. He’s averaging 24.7 points on 51.6% field-goal shooting and 39.7% from 3-point range on the season, and he may need to have another 40-point effort in the Lakers’ next game.
That is when they will visit the Denver Nuggets, the team that serves as their personal boulder of Kryptonite and is on a nine-game winning streak.
