LeBron James was in a very good mood before the Lakers‘ game Friday night, his happiness coming from his return to the court against the Spurs after having missed the previous five because of a strained left adductor.
James had watched the Lakers go 3-2 in his absence, with Anthony Davis becoming a force while dropping at least 30 points in four of the games and averaging 17.4 rebounds over those five games. James saw Patrick Beverley miss his first of a three-game suspension without pay for shoving Suns center Deandre Ayton during a loss at Phoenix on Tuesday night. Dennis Schroder started in place of Beverley.
Though the Lakers lost their way in the third quarter, watching their 20-point lead shrink to three early in the fourth, James and the Lakers recovered to pull out a 105-94 win at AT&T Center. It was the Lakers’ first road win of the season after six losses.
James produced 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and nine turnovers in 33 minutes. Davis had another double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
Lonnie Walker IV was in the middle of it all, too, finishing with 18 points. The Spurs showed a video of Walker from the first four years of his career in San Antonio, ending with, “Thank You Lonnie.”
He smiled and waved to the crowd then went out and played well, as did the rest of the Lakers, who had four players score in double figures. Walker scored 10 points to help the Lakers take a 25-16 lead with 3 minutes 27 seconds left in the first quarter.
With the Lakers’ lead down to 81-78 early in the fourth quarter, L.A. had to get its act together.
The Lakers did.
James pushed the ball up court, forcing the Spurs’ defense to retreat until it was too late, the Lakers forward ending the play with a dunk.
On the next possession, Austin Reaves threw a behind-the-back pass to James for another layup.
The Lakers kept it going for an 11-0 run that became a 14-2 stretch and a 95-80 Lakers lead midway through the fourth quarter.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.