LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ dance card is very nearly full again. The choreography might need a little work.
Running the pick-and-roll attack they’ve been refining for nearly four years, LeBron James and Anthony Davis seemed in lockstep zooming toward the rim – where defenses fear them the most. But as James threw a lob for his 6-foot-10 teammate, the timing was off: The pass bounced off the glass and Davis stumbled to the court, grinning bashfully.
The Lakers were far from a well-oiled machine on Wednesday night despite having a good deal of their parts finally in order. Their matchup with the struggling San Antonio Spurs (14-34) was largely a back-and-forth tilt until the fourth quarter, when they finally asserted control for a 113-104 win.
But winning is winning. And though there were clear imperfections in victory, the Lakers (23-26) were able to feel some of the momentum of feeling whole once again – an important part of their push to get back into the playoff picture this season.
Coach Darvin Ham called Davis’ return an “A-plus.” Davis had a few notes for himself, however.
“It’s just about me getting a rhythm back on two of those passes back to Bron,” he said. “The outlet and the lob over the top. But we’ve been teammates long enough to know how our connection is and I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine once I get back in the starting lineup.”
Even making his first off-the-bench appearance since 2013, Davis still had 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in 26 minutes in his return from a 20-game layoff due to a right foot stress reaction. The Lakers also simultaneously debuted newly acquired Rui Hachimura, a sturdy 6-foot-8 forward who had 12 points, six rebounds and a handful of bright moments – including a few transition feeds from James.
The group powered up during an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter that effectively put them in command: James, Dennis Schröder and Max Christie all hit 3-pointers, then Thomas Bryant flushed a sharp feed from James to give the Lakers a 10-point edge. To that point, San Antonio had led for the majority of the game, going ahead by as much as 10 themselves.
James was one rebound shy of a triple-double, adding 20 points and 11 assists while sitting back as more of a play-maker than the top scoring threat with Davis back in the fold. Patrick Beverley scored a season-high 18 points, hitting three of the Lakers’ 10 3-pointers.
The Lakers withstood a Spurs team that took 16 more shots than they did, in part fueled by 20 Laker turnovers. Keldon Johnson had 25 points to pace the Spurs.
In several key aspects, Davis picked back up quickly. After going 0 for 2 from the field in the first quarter, he caught a shooting rhythm and was 7 for 13 the rest of the night to go with a 6-for-7 showing from the free-throw line. Ham said one of the reasons he brought Davis off the bench was that he knew he’d be tempted to play him over his minutes restriction to close, but Davis only wound up playing one minute beyond his target.
The fan base’s sensitivity was tested in the third quarter, when Davis went up for a halfcourt heave and fell after the Spurs’ Zach Collins got in his landing space. Davis spilled to the ground and briefly clutched his right ankle – audible gasps erupted from the crowd. But the oft-injured star was quickly on his feet again and sank the three free throws he was awarded when Collins was hit with a flagrant foul.
Davis said postgame that his foot and his ankle felt fine. But in the moment, Ham quipped that he almost fainted when it looked like his big man was down again.
“To see him jump up, bounce up, ‘Big Fella, you good?’” Ham recounted. “He said, ‘I’m all right. I’m OK.’ So, that was a huge relief to see him overcome that unfortunate play.”
Hachimura saw his number called in transition with early layups, but also a few post-ups – which Davis noted with mock envy are normally called for him. But big things are expected from the big wing, who with the help of three of his former Washington Wizards teammates as well as James and Davis has felt an easy early fit into the court.
“Playing with those guys, it’s amazing,” Hachimura said. “I love playing (with them). It was only one game, but I like to play with those guys. I think I can have easy looks because they’re gonna have a lot of defenders on them. So I think it’s gonna be great.”
The Spurs came into the game well behind the Western Conference pack in 14th place, losers of eight of their past 10 games – but under the coaching of Gregg Popovich, their standing belied their feistiness. It was the Spurs who looked fresh against the Lakers, who had finished a decisive loss to the Clippers less than 24 hours before.
The Lakers trailed 85-81 early in the fourth quarter before they took control with a 22-6 run over a span of nearly six minutes. Hachimura had six points during the spurt and James scored five.
A night after scoring 46 points in defeat, James was a little sluggish at the starting gun: He shook his head after missing a pair of first-quarter transition layups, and he missed his first four 3-point attempts (he had made a career-high nine against the Clippers). His team-high six turnovers were another sign of a dull edge – or perhaps just as much an indicator of the craftiness of San Antonio’s Tre Jones plucking four steals.
James’ scoring line brought him to within 158 points of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s all-time scoring record (38,387 points). With his only 3-pointer of the night, James became the ninth-leading 3-point shooter in makes (2,222) in NBA history, passing Jamal Crawford.
But the beauty of getting healthy, Ham said, is that James won’t have to carry the scoring load every night.
“He’s not selfish,” Ham said. “When he has it going, yeah, he’s gonna be aggressive and assertive to the rim to score. But in general, he’s a guy that’s gonna set the table, put his teammates in a position to succeed.”
The Lakers next head to Boston on Saturday to begin a five-game road trip with their next home game scheduled for Feb. 7 against Oklahoma City.
AD dropped 21 PTS, 12 REB, and 4 BLK in his return to the court 💪
Lakers got the W 113-104. pic.twitter.com/VKrrtXHcaR
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2023
"It was a long 5 1/2 weeks. Feels good to come back, get a win and ultimately just be back on the floor with these guys." @LakersReporter caught up with @AntDavis23 following his 21-point performance against the Spurs. pic.twitter.com/vquBFhzPO9
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 26, 2023
Darvin Ham on Anthony Davis' return, Rui Hachimura's debut and the #Lakers defense. pic.twitter.com/j3LqXnYZo7
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 26, 2023
Rui Hachimura on his #Lakers debut and playing alongside LeBron & AD. pic.twitter.com/uybvktCeZy
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 26, 2023
