LeBron James stepped into a three-point shot on the far side of the court, the ball perfectly rotating through the Friday night air, before it swished through the net. As he ran down the court, he shook his head and gritted his teeth.
Then, James got to the right block, the Atlanta defender on his back, before he spun and swished a midrange jumper. After a stop, he took a step closer to the Atlanta bench, got back to almost that same spot, spun and swished another fadeaway, running past the Hawks as their coach, Quin Snyder, frustratingly called a timeout to try to put a stop to it.
A day after James scored 38 points to lead the Lakers to a shorthanded win against Portland, he was at it again, this time against a dangerous Atlanta team. Looking ageless against a parade of young, athletic, long wings helplessly trying to stop him, James led the Lakers to a 119-102 win — their 20th of the season.
James’ 30 points — the final two of which forced Snyder into that late timeout — gave him his 563rd 30-point game, one more than Michael Jordan for the most in NBA history.
James, who starred without Anthony Davis against Portland, got Davis back on Friday. Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, anchoring a terrific defensive performance.
Austin Reaves scored 20 to go with seven rebounds and six assists, and Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht each added 13. Dorian Finney-Smith also hit a pair of corner threes on his way to eight points off the bench.
The win, the Lakers’ seventh in their last nine games, was one of the team’s better all-around performances outside of 19 turnovers against Atlanta’s aggressive perimeter defense.
While Trae Young scored 33 points, Max Christie harassed him for most of the game. The Lakers held Atlanta to just six-of-34 shooting from three while outrebounding Atlanta by 17.
The Lakers now head to Texas for a pair of tough games, first with Houston on Sunday and then with Dallas on Tuesday before returning back to Los Angeles for their next eight games (seven at home and their first at the Intuit Dome).
