LOS ANGELES (AP) – LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are starting to get key pieces of their line-up back as he makes his push toward becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Anthony Davis scored 21 points in his return from a right foot injury and Rui Hachimura added 12 in his Lakers debut as they bounced back from a rough loss to beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-104 yesterday.
Davis and Hachimura both came off the bench with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter.
“We were all figuring out ways we could mix and match. We just wanted to get guys in there,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “With AD coming back and Rui being new, we had to work through some kinks. When we got settled into the game, guys had different runs.”
Davis, who missed 20 games due to a stress injury suffered during the first half of a December 16 game at Denver, came in with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter.
He was seven of 15 from the field and also had 12 rebounds in 26 minutes for his 19th double-double in 26 games played this season.
“He makes the game look so easy and takes the pressure off us,” Ham said of Davis. “He was really being aggressive. I thought he was phenomenal.”
Davis was a little tentative his first couple minutes back on the floor.
He missed his first two shots from the floor and had one point in the first quarter, but hit four of his next five and scored nine in the second quarter.
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.
Los Angeles’ largest lead would be 14 late in the quarter as it swept the four-game season series.
