LeBron James will play in his first road game of the season when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Sunday.
James made his season debut against Utah on Tuesday, scoring 11 points and dishing out 12 assists to help the Lakers beat the Jazz 140-126. He became the first NBA player to play 23 seasons, but his debut had been delayed after James missed 14 games while dealing with sciatica issues.
Having James back in the lineup helped Los Angeles pull away in the second half after trailing Utah 71-67 at halftime.
“He makes things easier,” guard Luka Doncic told LakersNation.com after the game. “He’s another player that can create, score and do a lot of things.”
His last basket in the third quarter helped James extend his NBA record of double-digit scoring performances to 1,293 games. Now healthy, the 40-year-old forward is hoping to make up for lost time on the court.
“It was just fun to be out there with the guys, man,” James told SB Nation on Tuesday. “Like I said, it’s been rough like mentally for me. Like this is the first time I’ve started a basketball season and not played since I started playing basketball at like nine years old. I’ve never missed the beginning of a basketball season. So, just going through that physically, emotionally, spiritually and everything just tested me.”
Doncic kept the Lakers from sputtering during James’ absence. He’s averaged a career-high 34.6 points, 9.0 assists, and 8.5 rebounds in 11 games.
Figuring out how to contain Doncic and James will once again be a difficult task for a Utah team struggling to close out games.
The Jazz lost 144-112 to Oklahoma City on Friday in NBA Cup play after the Thunder used a 33-4 third quarter run to rally from an early deficit. Oklahoma City scored 22 unanswered points to take the lead. It shot a season-best 62 percent on 3-pointers, going 23-of-37 from long distance.
“It’s been happening too many times now, and I think it’s kind of getting old for everybody,” Utah forward Lauri Markkanen told the Deseret News. “We’ve got to kind of keep focusing and keep following the game plan for as close to 48 minutes as we can.”
Markkanen had just 19 points for Utah — only the second time this season where he hasn’t scored at least 20 points.
Stifling defense from the Thunder led to 28 turnovers for Utah. The Jazz gave up 44 points off those turnovers.
Utah started out on a promising note after scoring 44 points in the first quarter against Oklahoma City. The Jazz led by as many 18 points before enduring their second-half collapse.
“It’s kind of like we just watched two different games,” Jazz coach Will Hardy told the Deseret News. “We just played the best team in the league and you’re winning at halftime, and so we just played 24 really good minutes and in the third quarter, especially the end of the third quarter, the game just sort of disintegrated, and a lot of that is due to turnovers.”
